ESPER vs HUNTER
by CashyHoray1.00
Summary: Accelerator and Last Order land in the world of Hunter X Hunter through an accident.
1. Chapter 00 Prologue

**Chapter 00 - Prologue**

"Ne, ne, ne, ne, NE, NEE, NEEEEE!" A small ten year old girl with brown hair and a little 'antenna' sticking from the top of her head was running wildly around a slim white haired boy who was presently sitting in an armchair. "Ne, NE, NEEEE!" She started to poke him with her index finger by each 'ne' she said. The mark on the teenager's forehead began to twitch dangerous and after each passing second it was becoming more and more pronounced. "NEEEEEEEEE!" Now he could not hold it back anymore.

"What?!" he screamed at the now pouting girl, arms crossed rebellious half smirk half pout on her face. Ah, sometimes she was just so annoying and after he exploded she would be or act miffed because he screamed at her. At times he just could do nothing right. He sighed loudly and let his hand slide through his even longer white hair. He held the few long streaks he still had in his hand against the light of the sun, which was shining through the window of their apartment.

Since he went to save Last Order from the virus many things just become, well, normal and a little bit boring. Nobody really wanted to challenge him anymore. He was happy to give Last Order a calm and peaceful life and environment, but something inside him was twitching for a fight and some action.

From time to time he would even ask Touma for a fight, which was pretty low even for him and after a while the misfortunate boy grumbling accepted, and a fight he, the strongest of the Espers, would lose most of the time. It was truly sad that a simple Level 0, with the worst case of bad luck and a female harem following him around, could defeat him so easily even if it was only because of his special right hand, his Imagine Breaker. But Touma was the only one he could challenge, nobody else.

Life was just too boring at the moment. The same things each and every day. Waking up, looking after Last Order, being annoyed by Misaka Worst, going every now and then to school, it was not like he needed it anyway, going grocery shopping, training his powers, relaxing, playing with Last Order and etc. No new disasters in or outside Academy City. Even more boring. And he could not even travel much outside the City because of his Esper status and past. So he had to stay there, each day returning with Last Order and the always-irritating Misaka Worst to Yomikawa's apartment and relive the same day on the next.

Everything was just too normal for him. But it was the price he had to pay for his 'little sister', so that she could live a complete regular and serene life like most people in Academy City, but she seemed to be able to read his moods perfectly even though he did not show them on his face. As if reading his mind, Last Order also knew about his discontent with the whole situation and always tried to cheer him up, if that was even possible, while annoying him senseless. Making him go out, training karate with her, getting him to watch movies while she joyfully commentated on everything she saw and other useless things. He yawned.

"Ne, NE, NEEE!" she began again to pock him hard into his ribs, but if he was honest with himself it felt like being elbowed. Ouch! He had learned how to take a punch or more than one and continue to fight even if tons of blood was streaming down his body, but her continuous pocking still hurt.

He looked at her. She was one of the few people who were allowed to do this, to hug him, show affection for him, care for him, to hit him like Yomikawa did once they returned from Russia, and he would show her sometimes his smile – the not maniacal version -, which was rare but she cherished it nonetheless, and other emotions.

She really liked annoying her 'guardian angel', he knew what she called him behind his back but never corrected her or commented on it. If she would say it to his face in front of others, he would probably explode from embarrassment… or rage. He was not sure which. To her he was something like an older brother, a person you could always count on, a person who was always there for her even if he did not want too. Yes, he liked the role of an older brother, a maniacal super-powered angel-class over-protective brother, not somebody normal mortals should mess with. Too bad for any future damned boyfriends of her.

"Tch. What do you want?" he asked her trying to hold his annoyance in. He did not want to get up from the chair, it was just too comfortable and he could continue to think about torture methods to use on her future boyfriends...

"You were not listening to what Misaka said, says Misaka as Misaka pouts cutely." She explained to him. She learned how to speak correctly and normal after no real time, but still liked to speak about herself in the third person and infuriate people to hell, like for example him. But thank god she stopped with the double 'Misaka Misaka'.

"And what about before, brat?" he inquired. He let his head fall back against the head cushion, while looking bored up onto the ceiling. After all this time and all the things that happened, 'brat' kind of became a pet name for her. She did not seem to mind it. From the corner of his eye he could see her still smiling brightly at him with a determinate look in her eyes. No, she would not give up until they did whatever she said.

"How about we go shopping, asks Misaka as Misaka tries to look extremely adorably." Ah, only shopping. That was okay, but he still did not want to get up.

"Heh?" he tilted his head slowly to his right and looked straight at her. Actually… Why would she want to go shopping again? She just went yesterday with her guardians Yomikawa Aiho, the Anti Skill member and sports trainer, and Yoshikawa Kikyou, the scientist who always helped him in the past. Why him? And why the hell again? What did he do to deserve this? Ah, he saved her from certain doom. Even more than once.

"Were not you just yesterday brat?" he asked hypothetical looking back at the ceiling.

"But Misaka would really like it if you would go with Misaka shopping, states Misaka as Misaka tries to look as nice and cute as physical possible." she looked at him like she was expecting something. He sighed again loudly, there was obviously no way out of this. Well, wait…

"And what about Misaka Worst? You could go with her." He cringed at the questions. He should have thought more about a better 'excuse'. In hindsight that really was a stupid question. If he could choose, he would go with that damned Touma shopping before going with her, annoying, cheating, little bast…

"Misaka wants to go with you, nobody else, says Misaka convincingly." He groaned. No way out.

"Okay, let's go brat." He heaved his feet from the table, took his crutch and walked towards the anteroom. If they had to go either way, then he liked to get it over with fast and return to the comfortable chair.

On the way towards the door he went by the body length mirror and looked at himself and his clothes. He was a little bit taller now, but not that much. He had still a slim built even with all the 'physical training' he absolved in the last months. His hair was a little bit longer down to his shoulders and his clothes were the same in white and light grey tones.

Well, maybe he could use some new ones, he thought. Winter would be here soon and he needed warmer clothes for appearance's sake. Thanks to his ability he could block the cold if necessary, but it would look stupid, he only in a thin t-shirt and everyone else in coat, boots, scarf, gloves and cap. And the time could run out and he would freeze to death… They left the apartment with a note that said, _'Am shopping with brat. Will be back for dinner. A&M'_

Both of them decided to go the near underground shopping mall to buy new clothes and later some food. The same shopping center where he went to look for Last Order after she vanished for the first time and ran into the girl name Index, which then proceeded to eat his wallet empty. At that moment in time he did not realize who exactly the Touma was she was looking for. Now in hindsight he was feeling quite dim-witted. He could not make the connection between Index's missing friend and the random guy who punched him into his face so hard he lost consciousness, not that easy done.

But he should just forget that that event even happened. Firstly they bought a new light blue autumn dress, with white snickers, knee length leggings and a white fluffy overcoat. Since they started living with Misaka Worst and often visited the original Misaka, Last Order started to wear shorts or leggings under her dresses and skirts and started to practice karate every day. She was becoming more and more like the tomboy the original was. Rather depressing, she was so cute before. And the little brat also tried to use some of her learned karate moves on him. Not that they ever worked.

For himself he bought, of course only with the brat's approval, wide black pants in which he could hide a variety of weapons, shoes and a turtleneck with also a long white overcoat. All ends were in white fur, which gave it the appearance of being fluffy, the brat commented while grinning happily. She even managed to convince him to wear his new clothes right now. He tried to protest, but to no avail. Damned those puppy dog eyes!

After he finally managed to get the little one away from the different clothes shops and from spending anymore of his fair-earned – he had not stolen it from anybody or killed the person who it belonged to - money, they decided to go to one of the better restaurants on the surface.

He sighed as so often these past few days, life just got boring. He would give everything, well not really something, but a little bit for more challenges or any challenge at all. Now it was a peaceful time where killing other people was strictly forbidden, even if they attacked him first.

Without realizing they went along one of the main streets into the direction of the newly opened restaurant. Last Order continued talking to him from a bit ahead, running and swirling around, showing off her new acquired dress, smiling cheerfully. He walked behind her with his crutch, just listening to the sound of her voice and letting her continue to talk.

They turned left and right before them a tall man clad in black came out of the small side alley. Last Order halted in her step and looked wide eyed at the stranger who just appeared before her. He was giving of a bad vibe, which usually meant trouble. He wanted to scream at the brat to back away when the stranger raised his hand and pointed his finger at her.

He activated his power through the switch on his choker and raced forward, manipulating the vectors below his feet to gain more speed and close the gap between them. He had to reach her before that man did something to her..

A beam of light was sent her way and he managed to hug her closely to his body. Whatever would happen, he would be able to reflect it. The beam of light came closer, but before it reached his personal space and reflection zone, the whole light grew in size and encompassed them both in white strange light. It was blinding him even with his abilities activated, so he closed his eyes and slowly the blackness took over him.

* * *

When Accelerator opened his eyes again, he was lying in a dirty and small side alley. He frowned, there was no dirty alley in Academy City or in the parts he usually frequented. They generally had those nasty garbage-can-robots which picked everything up once it touched the ground even if it was not garbage. One of them even 'ate' his iPod once, but it did not survive long…

The alley he was lying in was unfamiliar to him. The ground was not plastered, only hard earth and dirt beneath him. There was also plenty junk lying around, some falling from the overflowing garbage cans at the beginning of the road.

But back to the important things, to the strange light. He should have been able to reflect it, but it did not happen. His ability was active and the light beam should have been reflected. Why? How? Nobody would be able to touch him for one whole hour until his battery ran out, but until that happened someone had to have seen the commotion and called Anti-Skill or Judgment to help them, but neither was there.

He looked down at Last Order who was still lying unconscious in his arms. He called out to her. No reaction. He shook her body a bit, trying to get her to wake up, but she continued to sleep peacefully. Tch, the brat was so annoying.

He sat himself up leaning against to beige colored wall and let the brat sleep in his lap. Best way to go was to protect her until she woke up and they could go back to the apartment. Once they arrived at home he would scream bloody murder right into their damned faces. One of their guardians was a damned scientist, who could now track Last Order with her computers, and the other was an elite member from Anti Skill and none of them were here. They would hear from him…

The sun just seemed to be rising, so it was morning… the next day. They were probably searching for them… hopefully… for their health and continued existence. He remembered he left a note at the apartment, saying they would be back for dinner. He would certainly wring their necks a little, but first he had to calm down and look objectively at their current situation.

He looked around more carefully. The side alley was connected with a normal one, but he did not remember seeing any of them. Where the hell was he? Tch, how annoying. Was he transported anywhere else? Maybe. Who knew? For now he should stay low and do not attract attention to him or her. The battery of his choker was empty and he had to somehow find another one to be able to fight. Even though he learned quite a bit of hand-to-hand combat, he still was physically weak. He looked through his pockets, before he realized this were his new ones. Where were their shopping bags? Not here. Great. Fucking great. Not only were they stranded somewhere else, he did not have any weapons on him and was honestly at the moment completely helpless. Damn. But nothing he could change at the moment.

"Uh." he heard from his lap, "Misaka is confused right now, because Misaka cannot find any other Misaka from the Sisters Project here, states Misaka as Misaka searches through their mental connections." The child said quietly while sitting up and looking around confused. No, no Misaka near meant…

"WHAT?!" he screamed. No, that was not possible. They could not be that far away from them. He also needed their connection to use his Vector Change ability, without it he could not calculate his vectors, he was powerless. "Are you certain?" he asked hoping for a better answer.

"Yes, Misaka is 100 percent certain. Misaka does not have any connection to any of the other Misaka sister from the Level 6 Shift, says Misaka as Misaka tries in vain to understand Misaka's situation." She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. Damn, even though he was without his power he would try his best to protect her, even as powerless as he was right now.

"Well, should we take a look around?" he asked her as he tilted his head into the direction of the main road. Last Order looked there and opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by.

"Lookie look. So what do we have here?" A muscled man in dark grey shorts and red t-shirt came into view from one of the even smaller side alleys, his beard half hiding his malicious smile. Damn. He was holding a massive sword in his hands. DAMN! Why did he have to get into this situation straight away?

"Two foreigners lost in our little village. How sad." said another one, also muscled in tight green pants and an open vest. He had a smaller saber on his hip. Other people entered the alley and surrounded them; all of them were armed with Middle Age weapons. What were those people playing? Pirates? He snorted at them which he really should not, given his current situation. Completely helpless and against a group of muscled and armed idiots. Such misfortune. He now understood that Touma a little bit better.

"Who are you, asked Misaka as Misaka tries to make sense of the situation." came from his lap. Not a really good idea. Why could not the brat for once be quiet? He hugged her closer to his chest, trying to hide her.

"Shut up brat and you," the man with two enormous blades on his back who was probably the person in charge of this poor Cosplay group pointed his dirty finger at him, "give us all your money and we will let you live for another day. Maybe." The leader chuckled evilly and reached out one hand in the typical 'give me, give me' gesture of a five-year old. He had to stay calm and give them his money, because he could do nothing else at this point of time.

"No says Misaka as Misaka tries to look strong." DAMN YOU, BRAT! Since the time he took the bullet to his brain, she elected herself as his personal protector and bodyguard even though he was normally far stronger and did not need her saving.

"Be quiet, child." One pointed his old looking gun at her forehead and fired. The bullet left the pistol in slow motion, his eyes widened. No, he would not let her die. He would protect her. He would protect his family! AND THEN KILL THIS BASTARD!

Before the bullet could reach her forehead, it turned around and went right back. The gun exploded into many pieces, pieces which were now stuck in the man's arm and the others in his near proxy. What? How? His powers had activated? Impossible. His battery was clearly empty. His hand went to his choker and turned the switch. No, nothing happened. The battery was still empty. But how was it possible for him to use it, he had lost the part of the brain he needed to calculate them and coordinate his powers.

Another one looked from the guy whimpering on the ground at him angrily. "You find this funny, huh? Some stupid magic tricks?" he pointed his gun at him and fired like the last idiot. Now he would look more precisely. The bullet came closer and closer, he willed it away, and it turned around like usually thanks his Vector Change ability. No, that could not be true. His lips twitched upwards in an ugly parody of a smile. No, that was not possible. He could not take it anymore.

"Hahahahaha!" he started laughing loudly a maniacal smile on his face. Another guy raised his weapon and wanted to slash him down. It was repelled and the man's wrist broken. Accelerator stood up still snickering creepy, eyes still looked onto the ground. "This is nice, really, this is so nice." He looked at them who began to back up from him. In his red eyes a to-the-smile-fitting maniacal glint appeared, shocking them to their core. No, they would not survive. He looked at his sister who was sitting on the ground. "Last Order, you know what happens now? If you do not want to see, you should close your eyes, brat!" With that he began to destroy his opponents. The stones on the ground turned into deadly bullets, killing most of the men in one shot, others were just knocked out.

Blood was coloring the ground in a beautiful red color. It has been a while since he last saw it. His fingertips tingled with power, he could not believe it, but it was right in front of his eyes. His powers were back, all of it. The Misaka network was the best they could do after the brain damage from the shot, but he lost more than half of his capacity and gained, through the battery he needed to connect him with the Misaka sisters, a time limit. But now everything was back, he felt like he did a year ago. Stronger, better, and even more confident. Incredible. Time after time he was getting a little bit of his old capacity back, but never all. Now he got everything. He could not be happier at this point of time. He would finally be once more able to protect himself at all times. And if he protected himself, he would also protect her.

He looked down at her as she was still sitting on the ground with her eyes wide open and a smile on her face. He should have known that she would not close her eyes. After all she was already accustomed to his killing sprees, she had seen him kill exactly 10031 Misaka clones and she had watched him through their eyes. A bit depressing, but nonetheless true. He was after all neither human nor monster, neither hero nor villain, neither good nor evil, he was just… 'he'. Nothing else. Nobody else. And he would protect the things important to him like his little sister Last Order.

A quickly took a peak out of the side alley to see if anyone noticed the commotion. There was an oriental bazaar or something like that going on and everyone either did not want to notice or really did not realize what happened in the side alley. The language seemed to be the same as they always used, but the signs on the little shops were written in a complete different langue. Damn. There were farther away from Academy City than he first thought.

He went back to where the corpses of the thugs lay and searched through their pockets. He found a map, something that looked like paper money, outdated weapons, a funny decorated card which was on one side red and violet with two black X and on the other side was a picture of the thug's leader and a text written in this weird language. Last Order looked over his hand onto the card he was holding.

"That is a Hunter License, states Misaka as Misaka looks at the card."

"You can read the gibberish?" Accelerator asked surprised. He did not know that she could translate languages.

"Of course, Misaka can read this, because Misaka has some files which let Misaka translate everything Misaka sees, informs Misaka as Misaka looks surprised up at big brother. Can you read this too, asked Misaka while Misaka looks unsure to the ground." and so she did.

"No, I have no idea what the card says." he said truthfully, "Do you also know what this says?" He showed her the weird-looking map he found. Her eyes scanned the surface of the paper.

"This is a world map, but it is a fake. The continents, oceans and everything else is false, reports Misaka as Misaka tries to understand this bad joke." Her stomach made a loud grumbling sound.

"Tch. Of course, you are hungry." He stood up and helped her to her feet. They took everything which seemed to be in any way important even the fake map and started to walk to the main alley and searched for something to eat which looked eatable. No frogs on spits, even if they were panda frogs, he shuddered. He never saw something more disgusting. First something to eat, then they would look at the map again.

After eating something that look remarkably normal, they started to look for a library. Both of them were rather surprised that they somehow landed in a different world through the white beam of light from the man in black. A different world with different continents and oceans, different language and this world was far bigger than their old one. They also learned that there were no Espers or Magicians or Saints or Angels here, just normal people who had the potential to use different aura forces like Nen to fight. Tomorrow they decided they would travel to Zaban City, the next bigger city in their proximity and look for more information.

* * *

_**AN: Well, I was watching some episodes from both seasons of 'Toaru Majutsu no Index' when a new episode of 'Hunter X Hunter' was aired. I got an idea, decided to write it down and once I started, I could not stop writing. My favorite character from TMI was always Accelerator (and Last Order) and I really like kickass stories, so he will be strong in this story, stronger than most characters. After all he has to be able to protect Last Order, because many opponents in HXH universe like Hisoka, the Zoldyck family and the Phantom Troupe are rather dangerous and it will not be only through pure luck or chance like with Gon. (He survived far too many situations in my opinion through it and after a while it just gets infuriating.) I will also give her also a reasonable power boost. **_

_**The story takes place a few months after Accelerator, Last Order and Misaka Worst returned from Russia (end of the Light Novel Volume 22) and before anything from 'New Testament' could even start. **_


	2. Chapter 01 Pure Chance

**Chapter 01 - Pure chance**

They spent the last two months stealing money from idiots or thugs… Whoever dared to challenge him, turned later up either in the hospital or in a coffin. But he could not be happier. In Academy City nobody even tried to challenge or fight him, because they knew that he was firstly the strongest from the remaining Level 5 Espers in Academy City and secondly once he 'awakened' in a fight he was considered at least Angel class and could not be defeated by normal means.

He also had friends in high places and many knew or were themselves members from Anti Skill or Judgment or GROUP and his former attackers knew this nowadays. So they did not even try. Just really boring, but here every ruffian would attempt to rob him because of his fine clothes, they thought he had money, his unnatural and foreign looks, they thought he was a only tourist, his slim built, they thought he was weak, the little girl by his side, they thought they could blackmail him with a defenseless hostage, and because of his crutch, they thought he was easy to defeat. Now he did not need it anymore, but it gave them the impression of being even more helpless and so he could gain more money.

…Learning more about the new world they were in… Zaban City had an amazingly big library with a massive collection of books about the world, the history, geography, newly discovered treasures, lands, foods and animals, information about historical Hunters and the Hunter Exam which was held every year with more than a few thousand participants, rules and regulations, and what people could do with just a Hunter License. Oh, when he had enough free time he would try it.

Not being arrested for killing people sounded like a great advantage for him. He even read about the Celestial Arena with its 251 floors. The stronger you were, the more you got paid and the stronger opponents you had to face. Another interesting one, once they traveled there, he would try it too. At first Last Order had to translate the books for him until he managed to get a grasp at their written language and could do it himself.

…Theorizing about a way to get back to their world… Actually they were just lamely talking about it. This was a new world, a new start, a new beginning. Nobody knew them, nobody cared for them, and nobody held a grudge against them. Well, maybe the people who were not dead and in the hospital right now. No experiments or limitations. Just Last Order and him and nobody else and there was a whole new interesting world to discover. No world wars in sight.

…Training whenever they wanted… They did not have to train, but he wanted to see how much he had back from his former strength. The answer was simple: all and everything he learned in the last year. It felt amazing to be full back again. He was once more able to reflect everything at every time without a time limit. The only thing that puzzled him was that Last Order was able to get into his personal space, whenever she wanted to hug him, and out of it, whenever she was hungry, without problems even though he knew he had his reflective shield activated.

There was also a power difference between Last Order from their former world and Last Order here. Back home she was always only a Level 3 Esper, her powers were mainly used to remain as the head tower of all MISAKA sisters, and now without all clones she had the same strength as the original Misaka only younger looking. She could send blast of electricity, call lightning from the heavens and even use the Railgun. She still needed shooting training, but that could be arranged.

…Fighting all kinds of people… There was a difference between trained people, Hunters, and normal civilians. Fighting bandits, lowly thieves and civilians without any training was no problem, he just calculated like usually. But with Nen user he had to be a little bit more cautious. He had to do extra calculations to negate the effects of their aura and could then attack with his normal abilities.

…Becoming more of a family… They were always close and he considered Last Order something like family, like a little sister. Now it only became kind of official. He would call her sometimes 'little sister' and she him 'older brother' and if someone asked stupidly, he would give them a free ticket to the hospital. Other names for her were brat, little one, little Misaka, Last Order and little sister while she called him Accelerator or simply Accel or Acce, angel, brother, older brother and sometimes, when he got them into a not-so-good situation, stupid.

…Exploring the city… It was described as a prosperous city; however the streets were subsequently filled with shady dealers and scammers, the right sort of city for him to live in. Zaban City was also known for being home to Johness the Dissector, a serial killer who maimed 146 victims with his bare hands. He would have liked to meet the man someday, he sounded like an interesting character. The rest was just as normal as any other city he visited.

…And eating until she nearly burst… Right now her favorite restaurant was called PAROXYSME and was located in the Tsubashi Quarter, second district. They were eating there each lunch since she had discovered it a week ago, because the little brat liked the menu so much. He could only sit besides her sighing loudly, which was the only objection he was allowed to voice. At least it was normal food.

And today was the same as the seven days before. They sat at the bar right before the chef, who was cooking rather calmly and with a serious expression on his face, watching him cook and eating their food, when they heard a commotion right outside the restaurant. Nothing new. Today seemed to be a lively day, he observed. Many strange - even stranger than normal - people were appearing left and right.

Shortly after the yelling outside stopped, the door opened and four people walked inside. The first one to enter was a man with dark blue shoulder length hair, red eyes, a mustache and a darker skin color then the other three. He wore a mixture between totally color-unfitting Indian-Hippie clothes.

He was followed by what looked to be a twelve-years-old boy with spiky black hair with green tips and light brown eyes, whose outfit was composed of a green jacket covering a black tank top, green shorts, and green laced boots. Like a little elementary school kid back in Academy City. The neon green color honestly offended his eyes.

Next was a seventeen-year-old looking teenager, the same height as him, with medium blond hair and grey eyes. He wore a blue cape-like outer garment with a mandarin collar, decorated with orange-colored hem, and a white full-body training suit underneath. Personally not really good colors and textures to combine, but this world had its own share of weird characters and no fashion sense at all.

The last one was an approximately twenty-year-old, tall, fairly muscular young man with brown eyes, black hair, and a spiked crew cut. He wore a dark blue business suit, black shoes, and a pair of teashade sunglasses and had a suitcase.

A typical motley crew. Something like that was not normal or often seen. The alarm signals inside his head were going off. He had to be careful; those people were far too different to have anything to do together. He would keep an eye on them. Different ages, different skin color, different clothes, far too different color schemes.

"Welcome." said the owner and chef of the restaurant looking at them seriously.

"Is the back room open?" 'The' and not 'one'? So he wanted a special backroom. The three behind him did not look like they knew what was going on.

"What will you have?" asked the chef without looking from his pan.

"The steak combo that opens your eyes to the light. For three." the chef narrowed his eyes and looked the blue haired guy's way. Obvious.

"For three… How would you like them?" Far too obvious for someone who worked in GROUP. But the old man played along well.

"Grilled over a low flame, until cooked." Way to obvious. The Indian-man even seemed to be proud of what he just did. Something suspicious was going on here. He would have to stay calm and do nothing until he had more information. What he did not know or even suspected was happening right beside him.

'_Steak combo, steak combo, steak combo… Misaka will just have to take a little look.' _

"Got it. Let yourself into the back room." The four vanished behind the doors and Accelerator relaxed and continued to eat. A tad suspicious, but it had nothing to do with it. Even if Last Order saw him as a hero, he would not go willingly around saving random people or the world. How cliché.

'_Misaka's hidden and completely secret ninja style: Vanishing move!'_

He continued to eat his fill until he realized that Last Order seemed to be too quiet. Maybe he should make some conversation, he sighed. "What do you want to do after we finished eating, brat?" and looked at her seat only to see it empty. A tick mark appeared on his forehead twitching dangerously. Whenever the brat went 'missing', she would drag him into some kind of trouble. Like the one time, he saved the nun from starvation, who ate so much food – food which would have last him a week - and was looking for someone called Touma, a name he could not connect to the person who beat the crap out of him. How did this idiot always say? Such misfortune.

"LAST ORDER!" he screamed through the restaurant, but nobody came. Everyone just looked at him funnily, was probably the name. He sighed again; she probably got the idea that those people were fishy and followed them. Stupid brat! He knew she could look after herself, but in this world could be people who were stronger or faster than her.

"Where is this backroom?" he asked the chef while lying money onto the bar. He leaned over it and looked the man directly into his face.

"Where is what?" The man tried to fool him even though the strangers and him talked about it not five minutes before. The twitch on his forehead and right eye became stronger and even more visible.

"The backroom to which you just sent those strange four. She probably went with them." He really tried to be nice. The brat always annoyed him while saying he should talk more nicely to other people and not act so asocial. He really seriously tried, but if the answer was not to his liking, he would destroy this place to find her.

"Do not be absurd. Your little friend should be somewhere around here. After I finish cooking this dish, we could look…" And that was it. Destroy this place. Accelerator smashed his hand onto the bar and disintegrated it, the cooking station and a part of the floor.

"Listen and listen carefully. Firstly, I could not finish my meal in peace and am at the moment more than irritated with you, secondly, this was my lovely little sister who followed those four strangers god knows where, thirdly, if you do not bring me there this instant, I will burn your shop to the ground and beyond it to get to her. Understood?" He said with a maniacal glimmer in his red eyes and creepy smile on his face.

* * *

Curiously she followed them inside a little room with a round brown table and three chairs. Idiots, they did not even notice her behind them. Once they enter, she hid under the table, placing herself in a way none of them could see her.

"Wait here." said Indian-Hippie-guy moving to the door.

"Wait? Where are the others?" asked Suit stupidly. They only ordered a table for three, there was nobody else coming.

"I can't wait for the steak combo." sated Green Kid. Yes, she wanted to see too. She ate there every day the past week and there was no steak combo on the menu.

"Gon, that was just the password to get us inside." said Blondie scolding at the Green Kid.

"Oh, we don't get to eat?" What? But she was only here for the food! She had to get back to big brother before he started to wreak havoc.

"One in every ten thousand…" began Indian-Hippie again. But… maybe she should just stay here until she heard what they had to say.

"Oh?" was the general response.

"The number of applicants who make it this far. You've done extremely well for first-timers. Well good luck." said Indian-Hippie while smiling merrily. Hmm, what could they be talking about?

"Thanks!" Green Kid held his hand out and Indian-Hippie took it, both of them smiling happily.

"I would be happy to serve as your Navigator next year as well." And with that he closed the door and her only escape route back to her brother. What to do? What to do? Suddenly the room started to vibrate and move downwards. An elevator?! The room was an elevator!

"What?" Suit sounded surprised.

"It appears this room is an elevator." Blondie stated. Well, duh? She already knew. She would just have to wait until they reached their destination and then take it up again. Hopefully brother did not realize that she was gone for so long.

"Bastard… That meant that he expects us to fail this year." Suit said while sitting onto a chair angrily.

"Once every three years." Blondie informed them while also sitting down. What every three years?

"What's that?" asked Suit stupidly.

"The frequency with which a rookie passes the exam." Hah! They were talking about an exam!

"Huh?" asked Suit.

"It is that unusual?" asked Green.

"Some cannot endure the exam's physical and mental strain. It is also not unusual for veterans to break the rookies, who consequently never retake the test." Brother would absolutely like the challenge.

"So I guess candidates are willing to risk everything to become Hunters." stated Green Kid. Hunters? Where did she hear this? Hunter and exam, hunter and exam… the Hunter Exam! Interesting!

"But of course, my friend!" Suit stood up and leant over the table to Green Kid, "Hunters make the most money in this world!" Whoa! There was paper money flying behind him right now.

"No! Hunters are the most noble in this world." told Blondie proudly. They looked at each other angrily.

"Glory hog…" - "Money grubber!" And then started an awesome fight. Both trying to convert Green Kid to their side. They started to blabber and try to out scream the other. Misaka just stood up from under the table and said.

"You are both absolutely right, says Misaka while Misaka claps happily because of the incredible fight. Being a Hunter is both noble and a well paid job, voices Misaka her opinion while Misaka tries to convince them to stop the fight."

"EEHHHHH?!" All three of the tried to climb the walls from shock. It was a funny reaction.

"Who the hell are you? Since when were you there?" Suit yelled at her. She looked to the ground shyly grabbing the hem of her dress in her little fists.

"Misaka was here the whole time, confirms Misaka as Misaka tries to explain Misaka's situation." Blondie shoved Suit out of the way going down to her eye level.

"Why are you here, little one?" asked Blondie looking kindly at her.

"Misaka heard you talking about a delicious steak combo and so Misaka thought Misaka would take a quick look and then run back to big brother before he realizes that Misaka is gone, states Misaka as Misaka wriggles her hands nervously in her lap."

"So, you have nothing to do with the Hunter Exam." wanted Green Kid to confirm. She thought a little bit about it. Accel told her that he would like to try it sometime in the future, because of the amazing challenges they would have to survive and answered.

"No, says Misaka after Misaka changed her opinion and tries to explain, but Misaka decided that Misaka and her big brother will also participate in the exam, since Misaka is already on the way down there." She smiled happily at them.

"What? A little child like you taking the exams! The exam is nothing for little kids like you! Get up there again!" Suit screamed at her pointing his index finger accusingly and angrily at her.

"Big brother and Misaka will participate, says Misaka as she tried to understand why you screamed at Misaka." Behind them a quiet _bing_ could be heard. They turned around and looked at the little sign, B-100.

"I think we have arrived." said Blondie as the double doors opened. Beyond them were a large underground tunnel and many other participants standing. Pipes line the ceiling of the tunnel. The others look at them tensely, but did not say anything.

"Strange atmosphere down here." said Suit.

"They clearly differ from the Hunter applicants we saw at the port and in the city. Each is a master, in their own right…" states Blondie. She looked around. Most of them were just weak and harmless looking, low level Espers zero and one in Academy City, but she could feel two, maybe three presences which were far stronger than most here, however not as strong as her brother.

"Excuse me…" Green Kid tried looking friendly. In return everyone just stared at him quietly, their stares boring straight through Green Kid's body. "Everyone's really tense." Now was her time to shine.

"You are not doing it right, says Misaka as Misaka tells him about an alternative. GOOD MORNING EVERYONE, screams Misaka as Misaka tries to look though! So, you do it right, says Misaka while puffing her chest proudly." Now the other participants looked all surprised or more like shocked at her.

"A child?!" - "No way."- "Are they idiots?!" - "What does a child do here?" - "And it is a little girl!" - "The hunter exam is going to be a piece of cake." - "More like stealing the piece of cake from a little girl." - "Hahaha!" Idiots, behind her cute little smile hid a dangerous electro beast. She pouted, crossing her arms before her chest. He would fry them all, when they would not be looking.

"Hello. Please take a number." Suit got a small tag with the number 403 written on it from a little green bean man in a suit. How cute! She wanted to hug it, it reminded her of froggy, but Blondie held her back.

"Here you go." Blondie got 404.

"Here." And Green Kid got 405. The bean in a suit was standing now right before her.

"And what are you doing here? Are not you too young?" it asked. Hmpf! What a stupid question.

"Misaka might look young, but Misaka is really strong and big brother is even stronger, says Misaka proudly as Misaka puffs her chest, brother will be coming too soon and will take the exam, states Misaka as Misaka points Misaka's finger onto the elevator's doors." They hear some explosions above and down the elevator shaft.

"Okay." just stated the bean man and gave her number 406, "Be sure you wear this on your chest at all times. Be careful not to lose it and 407 for your brother." Froggy gave her the other tag. The tunnel was once more shaken by another explosion.

_BOOM_, the elevator doors flew to the other side of the wall with probably one of brother's punches. A dramatic entrance! There was dust everywhere hiding her brother from their vision. Parts of the wall and elevator were lying around the participants. She knew, she could trust in him to come save her. Of course, nobody died but some of them were injured. And there he was. Clad in stylish black trousers, shoes and turtleneck under a white long fluffy coat with wild long hair and even wilder looking red eyes staring straight at them. Brother!

"LAST ORDER!" he screamed for all to hear.

* * *

_**AN: That's for chapter two. I do not know who to pair with Accelerator, but I am thinking of making a Misaka/Killua pairing.**_


	3. Chapter 02 Beginning of Phase I

**Chapter 02 - Beginning of Phase I**

"LAST ORDER!" he screamed on top of his voice, that damned brat always managed to get herself and in extension also himself into trouble, but what was enough, was enough. The chef from the restaurant of course did not want to help him, trying to play dumb or innocent, so he had to 'fight' his way through and probably destroyed the whole building and the elevator shaft down here because he let a little bit loose.

He should have controlled himself more, normally he was not the person to go around destroying buildings for fun or no good reason, but when he got angry, he would do unimaginable things from time to time. Like throwing a whole multi-level building at that damned Aleister Crowley's hideout, not that that did something to him, that hiding little bastard. But what was done was done, no building a time machine and changing the past. Too bad.

He looked at the rumbles behind him to the elevator doors lying on the other side of the underground tunnel. Hmm, now he had to find another way out. Then he looked left and right, both sides were closed off by mechanical walls. If he wanted he could punch right through without any resistance. How did he always get into these situations?

A brown little ball smashed into his stomach and hugged him with all its might. Ah, she was the reason. "Misaka knew you would come for Misaka when Misaka is in trouble, states Misaka while looking adorably up at her big brother." She said rather quickly without breathing while hugging the living daylights out of him. Not that he minded that too much, but first he had too correct something. He turned his hand sideways and hit her not too hard on the forehead repeatedly. Stupid brat.

"Why the hell did you go with some complete strangers, brat? What if I did not come down here, huh? You would be all alone, so think before doing something stupid again." he scolded her for her unwise thinking. Who in their right mind go with some random strangers? He always told her to be more careful, would not know what those bastard were thinking after all.

Even if this world had many wondrous and unknown things, but most of them were also dangerous. Assassins, Hunters, Bandits, Terrorists, Mafia, just corrupt people and much more, not much different from his former world, but instead of having Esper powers they had Nen. Last Order was not weak of course, but she also did not have an ultimate protection like his 'vector change' ability. Someone could have knocked her out before she could use her powers in a surprise attack.

"Ouch! Why are you hitting Misaka, asked Misaka as Misaka tries to dodge his brother's hand in vain. Misaka has something important to say. Look around big brother, says Misaka as Misaka tries to make her brother see." And he looked around. He had not really noticed them before since they kept quiet, but there were approximately four hundred people starring straight at them. All completely different, different nations and looks, and even the three guys who just passed them five minutes ago were in this underground tunnel. And why were they here? Some kind of meeting?

"What did you want to say, Last Order?" he asked her while continuing to look around. People here really did look firstly pathetic and had no fashion sense. He looked back down at her. She blinked up at him grinning from side to side. Yes, even if he did not want to, he had already forgiven her. Stupid brat with stupid innocent look. She tugged at his white coat wildly.

"Misaka found something really really REALLY interesting, says Misaka proudly. They are doing the Hunter Exam right now and Misaka got you a sticker to also compete, declares Misaka happily. Here." Last Order gave him a round white sticker with the number 407 on it. He looked up at Last Order again, who was sticking hers, number 406, onto her blue dress. Well, it was rather unfashionable, but nonetheless stuck it onto the left side of his white cloak.

He had thought that the exam was held long ago this year, so he did not really look more precisely into it, but to get there by pure chance was also interesting. Since he read about it in the library he wanted to try it… sometime. There had to be many well trained people to fight and challenge him, he thought. But now was not bad either. Last Order looked like a cat that finally caught a delicious fat canary, so big was her smile. She was swirling around him happily, laughing about something. He sighed, what now?

"Now you are the last one, which is really funny, because _Misaka_ is _Last Order_, speaks Misaka while trying to stifle her laughs." So that was the reason. She was number 406 and he was number 407 and therefore the 'last', if nobody else came down. He turned around and looked at the completely destroyed elevator plus everything what was lying around… No, somebody else coming down would be impossible. He groaned, he was really the last one. He petted Last Orders head softly and smiled shortly at her.

"Thanks." he said nonetheless. So why not participate? Right now they were stuck down here, stuck because he destroyed the only way out. And they did not have to be somewhere on the surface or any meetings or friends who would worry, so they could compete without regrets. Over his coat he wore a light grey shoulder bag, nothing big, nothing small, but with the most important things in it. His money, identifications, something like an iPod from back home, a gun he stole from one of the thugs and some medications.

Last Order did also have a little blue backpack, matching her blue dress, with another dress in it and many rusty nails. He was always the more sadistic one and they would probably need them later on. But back to the situation at hand, they need another way out and if they have the chance to try, they would. And Misaka would be happy and maybe a little bit tired from the tests and would not annoy him as much as normal. Last Order took his hand and dragged him to three of the people which passed them in the restaurant.

"Misaka made some new friends, states Misaka smugly while puffing her chest. Look, the little one on the left side is Green Kid, the one in the middle is Blondie and on the right is Suit. Misaka took the elevator down with them, points Misaka out as she points at them." He sighed, only she could make friends in less than two minutes. Typical her. Let's look at them again. Their names were hundred and eighty percent not the ones she told him right now if their faces were anything to go by. The man in suit looked huffish at her. If he did something to her, Accelerator would kill him, slowly and painfully and for many long hours.

"Hey, my name is not Suit, call me Leorio-san. He is Gon and the blond one is Kurapika, little girl." said Leorio loudly pointing at the other two.

"Leorio says Misaka while pointing Misaka's finger at him." The man should be happy that she did not call him anything worse like Funny Glasses or maybe Baldy or Old Man. But their conversation was promptly interrupted.

"Have not seen you guys around before." said a chubby man in light blue with a schnozzle. He was sitting on a pipe and looking down at them. The older man had brown hair, big brown eyebrows and a strained big fat fake smile on his face. How obvious. He had seen it all his life far too often, the scientists and some of his past 'bosses', and thanks to them he was now able to tell the true one from the fakes. This man had something planed for them, so he should be careful. He moved so that he was standing half protective before Last Order. Better careful, then injured or even worse dead. He had the number 16 on his shirt. "Yo." the man winked to them.

"You can tell we are new?" asked Gon. Obviously everyone else was quiet and tense and only they are playing around. Like a gigantic plate over their heads with the words '_NEWBIES, please take them out first_' on it.

"More or less. Rookies always make much wind at first." the man said, jumped down and went over to their little group, "After all, this will be my thirty-fifth attempt." Oh, how curious. Number 16 was probably something like an eliminator or something like that. No normal guy would spend so much time trying to do something they clearly could not. They had to be cautious. Kurapika also looked suspiciously at number 16, something seemed fishy. But there was one positive thing about it, 16 had to know quite a lot.

"Thirty-five times?!" Gon and Leorio looked surprised. They clearly did to appear to understand the situation. He sighed again, today would be a long day.

"Well, you could say I am an exam veteran." And the man even seemed to be proud saying that. Loser, a veteran in losing would be more like it, probably got a certificate from it too, but that was just him being cynical.

"That is not something to brag about." murmured Leorio to the blonde. He finally seemed to think a little bit more.

"Indeed." murmured Kurapika back.

"If you have any questions, feel free to ask me." said number 16 to Gon who answered with a nod and a quick "Thank you." The man shortly smiled creepily, he had probably just found his first way-too-naïve victim. "My name is Tonpa." What kind of name was Tonpa? How plain.

"I am Gon." They shake hands happily. "These are Kurapika and Leorio." Both of them nodded in return. "And these are…" Gon was not sure how to continue. They did not have time before to introduce themselves, before Tonpa interrupted their conversation rudely earlier.

"I am called Accelerator and the little one besides me is Last Order. If you have some questions to our names, easy answer, just keep them." He went over to number 16 and looked into Tonpa's frightened green ones. Tut-tut, was that idiot already afraid of him? "You say, you know some of them? Do tell." Tonpa started to sweat bullets and began to look around unsurely while Accelerator continued to send his death glare his way.

"Well, I have the most experience here, but there are a few others. For instance, there is him… Number 255, Todo, the wrestler." A fat guy eating his bento like a pig, light brown hair, pony tail, sides cut really short. Ugly. "He is unmatched in strength." Retch, more like unmatched in weight. Could probably kill if he rolled onto somebody. "And he is smarter than he looks." Smarter than a pig. Yes, that was true. He was eating with a fork after all.

"On the other side, we have number 103, Bourbon, the snake charmer." He certainly has snakes as pets. Long wide clothes in a neutral color and a turban and violet scarf. "He tends to hold grudges, so you do not want to end up on his bad side." A snake was climbing onto his shoulder. He had to have more of them inside his wide clothes.

"And then number 191, Bodoro, the kung fu master." Old man with long grew hair tied up in a high ponytail, long eyebrows and mustache, also neutral clothes in kung-fu style. "He is getting old, but there still is not a better martial artist around. Then you have the three brothers, Amori, Imori and Umori, number 197, 198 and 199." Misaka besides him snorted in amusement. All three of them looked just ridiculous and the names were rather fitting. "They perform consistently well, thanks to their excellent teamwork." Logical, those three did not seem to be anything special, so in order to survive the exam they had to be working together. Indeed a good strategy. They looked like weaklings but were at least intelligent. He could live with that.

"And number 384, Gerreta, the huntsman." A dark skinned man with hair in the shape of the Mickey Mouse ears in a clown's costume with sunglasses. Seriously?! Don't those idiots have a mirror at home or maybe they have no fashion sense. Coming from a world where everyone seemed to know how to dress properly to this?! "He specializes in killing all manner of creatures, by blow dart and club." To him it looked like a wasps' nest on a stick. "There are many more, but they have taken the test the most times." Tonpa finished.

"Whoa, exclaims Misaka excitedly as Misaka'S eyes grow unimaginable big." Last Order opened her mouth to say more when a loud scream echoed through the underground tunnel interrupting once again their conversation. They turned to the source, a man lying on the ground.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" screamed the man with a violet cape obviously in pain. Leorio, Gon, Kurapika and Tonpa next to them nearly jump out of their skin. They probably had never seen someone die right before their eyes or never killed somebody with their own two hands. So naïve, they would not survive that long.

Everyone turned to the direction of the scream and saw a man in gladiator outfit whose whole arms turned into little red flowers. Standing before him, and probably the cause of the man's pain, was yet another weird clothed man. Red hair plastered back with hair gel, yellow eyes, a red star painted under his right eye and a blue teardrop under his left, disturbing smile, jester-like outfit, extremely weird. The man gave a series of creepy chuckles.

"Oh, how peculiar… His arms seem to have become flower petals. No smoke and mirrors here." He said smiling creepily. The jester opened his arms wide, showing them he had nothing there. "Do take care. When you bump into someone, you really should apologize." Most of the participants look uneasy into his direction. A maniac was the sort of people he liked most.

"Last Order, how strong do you think this man is?" he asked quietly the little girl by his side. She did not seem to mind the whimpering pathetic man on the floor.

"Misaka thinks that he would be middle Level 4, states Misaka after analyzing the jester, but nothing can be said for sure." She looked up at him to see the same maniacal smile as on the clown, his eyes glinting with glee. That exam turned out to be more interesting then he first thought.

"I want to fight him." He said in a low dangerous voice. His body was trembling with excitement. He would have fun playing or destroying the guy.

"That psychopath is back again." Tonpa came up from behind them and explained the situation looking slightly nervous.

"Again?" asked Gon and fully turned to Tonpa.

"Does that mean he took last year's exam?" Kurapika inquired seriously. Interesting…

"Number 44, Hisoka the Magician. Last year, he was a virtual lock to pass the test, but he then he went and nearly killed an examiner he didn't like and was disqualified. He also permanently disabled over twenty people for life. A clearly dangerous man. You guys better stay away from him as much as possible." How fun it would be to wipe that cocky smirk from Hisoka's face, he would defeat this guy.

Leorio looked horrified, "And they are still allowing him retake the exam this year?" Duh? The guy was standing right before them, so he clearly was allowed to. Would not it be more fun to participate with more insane and bloodthirsty opponents?

Tonpa nodded thoughtfully. "Of course. Every year, the examiners and test content change, and the examiners are the ones who choose the new content. The devil himself could pass if that were the examiners' determination. That is just how the Hunter Exam works. Anyway, nobody likes him and you should stay away too."

"He looks dangerous. That much is for sure." said Leorio. Hmm, he was dangerous too and standing right next to them. Hisoka may be dangerous, but he was in many ways even more dangerous, because people would not expect him to be like that when he has little Misaka hanging from his arm dragging him wherever she wanted. And he was so poor and weak and was limping along with only his crutch to help him stand upright and pale and oh so defenseless. Idiots.

"Oh, right…" Tonpa said while fishing some cans of soda out of his bag, "A little something to mark our acquaintance. How about it?" All three of them looked first surprised and then pleased. Even bigger idiots. Do not take food or drinks from strange people, and if said people were other participants in a competition were everyone else was literally your enemy and could be your death, hundred and twenty percent the food and drinks were not all right, so the logical conclusion would be: 'Do not take them!' Did not their mothers teach them properly?

"Oh, appreciated." answered Leorio happily. Naïve, oh so naïve, he chuckled inaudible. Those three did not understand the workings of the real world, where not everyone was as kind as he looked to be. All of them took a can. "As it happened, I was thirsty…"

"Thanks!" responded Gon cheerfully. How inexperienced. Misaka tried to grab one too, but he held her back.

"Last Order, what have I told you about accepting food, candy or drinks from people you do not know?" he asked her as he bent down to her level scolding her lightly. She was confused for a second before her face lit up and she answered his question.

"Big brother told Misaka to not take anything to eat or drink from strangers, because who knows what the dump-shit idiots put in it beforehand, states Misaka word for word looking rather proudly that Misaka remembered it so well." She really looked proudly up at him. Intelligent brat.

"Ah, no… I… Ehm… I did not put anything in it." Tonpa stuttered stupidly. No of course not, probably nothing poisonous but enough for them to withdraw from the competition. Another idiot. Kurapika looked at him with a newfound respect and packed the can of soda away into his bag. From behind they could hear the muttering of the other participants. They knew something like that would happen, so it was not the first time number 16 did something like that. What was he? A rookie eliminator? "S-so, best of luck to all of us!" he tried to act as if nothing happened, as if Last Order had not said anything.

Gon and Leorio opened their cans and started to drink. For a second he saw Tonpa's face changing into a full blown arrogant smirk as those two brought their drinks to their lips. Hahaha, how funny. Kurapika twitched besides him. So he saw it too.

"EEEEHHH." Gon was letting the soda flow out of his mouth. "Tonpa-san, this juice must have expired. It tastes funny." He snorted, naïve, oh so naïve. What would happen for the boy when he finally realized his happy light world was not as nice as he thought it would be? Leorio spit it out full blast. It would certainly be fun if he would spit it into Tonpa's face.

"Seriously? That was close!" Leorio screamed enraged.

He put his hand on Last Order's shoulder and looked down to her. "Do you see now? Never take something like that from strangers." Misaka just nodded her head seriously. She really was an intelligent girl.

"H-huh? That is strange…" stuttered Tonpa nervously. Heh, how about something even more fun. He gave Last Order his crutch, walked over to Kurapika, took out his can of soda from his bag, and opened it swiftly while everyone was starring at him. He went over to Tonpa smiling creepily along the way. The fat little man started to sweat bullets once more and tried to run, but he would not get away. Swiftly as a striking snake, he held Tonpa's mouth open and emptied the content of the can into his open mouth. Parts of it were running down his cheeks, soaked his shirt and colored it neon orange. He let the man fall to the ground. Tonpa tried to retch up everything he just 'drank' as best as he could. Now Accelerator felt better again.

"Well, that is that." he turned around whistling happily. "Come, Last Order. Let's walk around a little bit." And with that they left the little group and Tonpa still lying on the ground.

"Look, says Misaka as Misaka points at Baldy, a bald ninja." She said cheerfully, he just snorted in reply. The man, number 294, wore indeed black ninja clothes, a blood red scarf, was bald and those eyebrows! Seriously? What was wrong with these people?! "And look there a living pincushion." She pointed at a rather tall man (?), number 301, with slightly violet skin and many needles out of his face, ears and body. The man seemed to constantly smile and wore a dazzled expression on his face. Everyone seemed to mind him, while he walked by like a mechanical soldier. His aura screamed 'be careful'.

"What about him?" asked Accelerator his little sister. He seemed to be strong. She had a thoughtful look on her face before answering,

"Approximately as strong as number 44, Hisoka the Magician, thinks Misaka as Misaka rubs her chin between her index finger and thumb." Yes, he would say so too. Those two were the only two who stuck out of this crowd. The continued to walk for a little bit, looking at more weak people.

"Hahaha. You did very well back there." they heard from their left side and turned to see a little chubby boy with fine clothes and a laptop laughing at them. "You surely are good." The boy composed himself again and held his hand towards them, "Nice to meet you, my name is Nicolas, number 187." Last Order shook his hand in his place while he asked,

"And what is so funny?" Nicolas looked with an amused expression to Tonpa who was still on the floor trying to expel the contents of the drinks from his stomach. Gon was standing beside him patting Tonpa's back carefully. He snorted, now he understood. Ah, it had to do with him.

"The rookie crusher, Tonpa-san, lost in his own game. According to my data he did such things at every Hunter Exam, giving rookies poisonous food or drinks, destroying their confidence, making sure they would never participate again etc. That is also the reason why he has yet to pass the exam. But personally I do not like him. He also tried to give me one of these spiked drinks, but I declined because I knew who he was before he even offered me one. Oh, my incredible knowledge! Nothing can surpass it! Everything went as predicted by my data. Do you know how I got here? I used historical data from past Hunter Exams to calculate this year's location. It was as simple as that. I was bored senseless halfway through." Nicolas said smugly while tapping wildly into his computer. "As a present for the entertainment you just gave me, I will answer one question from you. I have not met all those people Tonpa knows personally, but I have enough data on most of the people here and the exams than he has. So what do you want to know?"

"What is the first test?" Accelerator asked seriously. He had no doubt that he was strong, but not physically. If it was something like physical stamina or endurance or whatever, he was going to lose. So he had to cheat somehow.

"According to my data and the information about the last few Hunter Exam the first test will be an endurance test with approximately forty kilometers to run." He knew he could not really trust this person, because number 187 was just another participant and opponent, but what he read in those Hunter Exam books there was a great possibility, approximately eighty percent, that that was true.

This guy also knew that Tonpa was a rookie crusher, so his information could not be that wrong. And if it were… let's just say number 187, Nicolas, would never be able to take part in any other Hunter Exam if he was finished with him. But seriously? Forty kilometers? He was not good in running; he usually hijacked some random car or walked short distances, but running forty kilometers was out of question for him. He could manipulate the vectors under his feet to give him a boost, but he could not maintain this for hours. Forty kilometer, approximately three and a half hours. No, he could not do that too long, so Plan B… cheat your way through the exam.

"Thanks for your information, we are going to take a look around." he said shortly and turned away. Shit, he had to get some kind of vehicle to complete this task and Last Order too. She was always so energetic, but he did not think she could manage to run that much. He looked beside him only to realize the brat was gone again. Tch, that damned brat. Why did she have to vanish all the time? He wanted to scream her name loudly once more, but she was already standing before him with something that looked to be an electrical scooter. Just where did she get this?

"Look what Misaka found on the floor, says Misaka as Misaka shows him the scooter." she looked innocently up at him. People usually did not find things like these on the floor.

"You seriously want me to believe that you just found this?" she simply grinned at him. "Do you know where I could get something like that too?" She nodded happily and dragged him along. They passed a man with approximately ten rusty nails sticking from his feet whimpering in pain. Oh, from him she had the scooter. He should not have let those two, Last Order and Misaka Worst, alone from time to time. He remembered with a shudder all those nails Misaka Worst shoot at him in Russia.

That woman was seriously dangerous and from her he also got the idea of giving Last Order nails. Using lightning based attacks or her iron sand was far too flashy in this world, they would only use it in serious and dangerous situations, so she would use magnetic fields to shoot those nails at bullet speed at other people. As bonus he only brought her the rusty ones. She continued to drag him until they reached another twelve year old kid with blue eyes, silvery white hair and a skateboard in one hand. He was number 99 and was not dressed that badly. Seemed to be a normal kid.

"You, says Misaka as Misaka points her finger at number 99. Can you lend my brother your skateboard for a while?" she asked looked adorably up to the kid. Accelerator's aura darkened, as if saying 'Say no and I will kill you'. Number 99 seemed to feel his aura, started to pale and took a step back.

"W-why should I?" the kid began to stutter. As answer Last Order simply gave the kid a kiss on his cheek and took the skateboard from the now stunned, red faced and wide eyed brat. His aura exploded outwards, scaring some of the other participants. How dare that boy? Last Order dragged him quickly away from the kid and he calmed down again.

He felt eyes on him and looked at the living pincushion who was staring maliciously at his little sister. His eyes narrowed, why would that man do this? It was not like they did something wrong… Maybe they would find out later. She continued to pull him back to Gon, Kurapika and Leorio. Tonpa was already gone by the time they came back. He looked down at Last Order who studied the little engine of 'her' scooter. She could probably send enough energy through her feet to the engine to drive it from many hours. He looked at 'his' skateboard. It was not the best, but it would do the trick. He would have to calculate the vectors and continually change them so that the wheels continued to spin. It would do. Now they had just to wait for the exam to begin. Hopefully number 189 was right.

"RIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGGG!"

* * *

_**AN: So the Hunter exam finally begins. Tonpa got it bad, but will be able to participate in the exam and he will avoid Accelerator now. I always found the scene pretty naïve where Gon and Leorio drink the soda… **_


	4. Chapter 03 Phase I

**Chapter 03 - Phase I**

"RIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGGG!"

One of the mechanical walls opened and revealed a seemingly mouthless man with black mustache, pale blue expressionless eyes and light violet hair. He was taller than Accelerator, had long thin limbs and wore a dark violet suit with a reddish pink tie. From him came the annoying ringing noise.

"I apologize for the wait. The entry period for the Hunter applicants has ended. The Hunter Exam will begin now!" said the man, his mustache moving as he spoke. The participants started to look a lot less tense then before, some of them were already smirking. "As final caution, if you are short on luck or ability, you could very well end up seriously injured or even dead. Those who accept the risks, please follow me." The expressions of the crowd turned more serious. "Otherwise please exit via… elevator…" All of them turned to look at the completely broken elevator.

"Sorry, that was my fault." said Accelerator calmly. Even though he destroyed the elevator and elevator shaft the other applicants appeared to be unfazed. They all wanted to compete in the exam, not one of them wanted to tuck their tail between their legs and run. He smirked, everyone stayed and would participate. Not too bad, he thought. At least they were willed to bet their lives on this, no going back or taking anything back. From now on everything between them was strictly business.

"Very well." the man continued, "All 405 applicants will participate in Phase One." Hmm? Four hundred and five? Oh, number 44, Hisoka, killed one gladiator styled guy and Last Order disabled the other one to get the scooter. The man turned around, raised his right foot high, roughly a hundred degrees, and started to walk like a mechanical toy soldier. The only thing which seemed to lack was the key on his back to wind him up. What was wrong with these people? First the living pincushion who was walking with jerky movements and now this? People here surely were weird.

They started to go comfortably after the man. After a while he realized that the man started to gain more and more speed and Accelerator hopped onto his skateboard, which looked like to the other participants as if it was driving without his help. Last Order did the same and used electricity to move her scooter forward. There decided to keep driving a little bit behind Gon, Kurapika and Leorio group. Maybe they could entertain him for a while with their naivety or stupidity.

After some minutes of fast going or slow jogging the different groups started to run in earnest. So that guy, Nicolas, was right. He was not quite sure if he could trust him, but Accelerator and Last Order were lucky that other people were not good at running too. Hopefully this would only last a few hours and then be done with it. "I neglected to introduce myself." said the man running at the front, "I am Satotz, the Phase One examiner. I shall lead you to the exam's Second Phase."

"Second Phase?" asked the bald ninja. "What about Phase One?" That was also a question which answer he liked to know.

"It has already commenced." answered Satotz without turning around.

"It's already begun?" he heard the others murmur, "This is part of the test?"

"You must follow me to Phase Two." said Satotz while turning only his head around to face them while still managing to go on, "This is the exam's First Phase."

"Follow you? That's it?" asked Baldy. It could not have been better. It was an endurance test, but people could use anything they wanted to get to the goal. He also saw a woman riding a bicycle in the back. If you came prepared, they would have better chances to complete the different tasks.

"Yes." answered the examiner, "I cannot tell you where or when you must arrive. You need to follow me." Not bad from the examiner. It was not only an endurance test, but also tested one's mental stress capabilities. The mental strain of not knowing how far they had to run or when it would end could bring some of them to their knees. They would have to crawl to the end. A simple trial for testing the mental fortitude of the participants. Two in one, rather ingenious.

After approximately half an hour the others had to run at full speed, while he and Last Order just drove alongside them comfortably. Last Order was talking nonstop at the moment, he just kept answering, "Aha." and nodded along to whatever she said. The calculation of these vectors was not that complicated and she feed the scooter engine enough energy to last a while. If Nicolas was right, they have to do this for the next three hours or so and then hopefully his boredom would end. After all he was in the whole exam because of the excitement, not to be bored.

Two hours later and he had nearly died of boredom. At the speed the others were now running, they have already managed to run over thirty kilometers from the start. Only ten more to go or so number 187 said. Some of them already fell behind, but still continued to run. It could also be that the course was longer than they thought before and were forced to run at the examiner's pace with no goal specified. Poor them. He was still driving comfortably. Maybe he was a little bit stiff from staying still on the skateboard the whole time, but mostly he was all right physically. He was however bored like hell, the mental stimulation here was nearly zero.

He had already taken a look at all the other participants, judged their strengths and weaknesses, listened to the brat and was still bored. He looked at Last Order who drove the last two hours well-behaved beside him, but he started to see signs of boredom on her face too. She was quiet right now, clearly untypical for her. No, that would not end well. A bored brat was an annoying brat. The last time she was bored he had to search through the underground shopping center for her, but he could understand her boredom. The course was so fricking monotonous and boring, he wanted to kill someone. Hmm, a killing spree would be the right thing to lighten his mood.

He started to snicker, he just thought of something funny. _'A good worker is a living worker, he lives and works. A bad worker is a dead worker…'_

They were passed by a happy and unnaturally motivated Nicolas, who was once again tipping away on his laptop while running. Leorio before them was sweating profusely which was no wonder in this business suit while dragging along something unhandy like a briefcase. He was running jerkily because one arm had to stay still because of the weight of the briefcase. People with mostly backpacks and shoulder bags were snickering at this sight. They probably thought he was something like an idiot and an oh-so typical newbie, not knowing what he had to do here. Maybe they could annoy him some more, he desperately needed some entertainment.

Maybe he should have bought a mini television and brought it with him, so they could at least watch something but he did not know that the exam would be so dull. Everyone always said that it was difficult and exhausting, but he was neither, just literally bored stiff. His iPod did not help at all.

They quickened their pace and drove beside Leorio. Last Order who could not contain her boredom any longer started to drive circles around a now red faced Leorio grinning happily. She was laughing cheerfully annoying all the other participants with her seemly endless energy and happy expression. Leorio immediately got angry at the sight of her and shouted "Hey! Wait up, kid! You should show the Hunter Exam some respect!" She stopped driving circles and looked at him questionably.

After thinking about what to say for a while or if she should even answer him, she asked, "Why, asked Misaka as Misaka tries to understand what you want to say to Misaka." Well, he should not think to highly of this man, it was the same who took one of Tonpa's drinks with a dumb smile on his face and a thankful expression. Of course, he, who came here in a suit of all things and an unhandy suitcase with clearly no idea what could happen in these tests, would be jealous of someone smarter and better prepared than him. Idiot.

"Why are you using an electric scooter? That is cheating!" Leorio pointed out. Really big idiot. Accelerator just chuckled darkly and drove beside him with his skateboard, "And you too!" Leorio pointed at him.

"Why?" he repeated Last Order's question. Let's see what the small brain of his had thought the whole time. Will he be naïve or not so naïve? Most people here really did not understand the real world. The pain it could cause the people, how it felt to kill a person in cold blood, to see their remaining life being drained from their eyes, some people here were just too naïve.

"Why? This is an endurance test!" Leorio screamed enraged. In a way yes, idiot, but nobody had forbidden them to use some aids to reach the goal. And what the hell? All those flying hearts and goody two-shoes not knowing idiots were getting on his nerves with their stupid ideals. Cheating was part of the deal and the everyday life. That was real life and it was mostly unfair. If he was too stupid to bring such a thing like a bike, skateboard or anything else with him, even his clothing choice was idiotic, why should not they?

"No. It is not." interrupted Gon. He looked surprised at the kid clad in green. Maybe the little brat was not as stupid and naïve as he first thought, he could have been wrong after all. Since he had limited experience with other people and social things, he was not perfect in judging other people's characters. Last Order was far better than him in this kind of thing.

"Gon, what are you saying?" But the man seemed to be an idiot, an old-fashioned idiot.

"The examiner only told us to follow him." Gon defended Last Order and him and with that he was right. 'Follow me' nothing more, nothing less. If the idiot could not even listen he should not be in this exam.

"Whose side are you on, eh?" Neutral or at last not on Leorio's side.

"Eh, you did not seem to be that bad." they heard a voice saying from behind them. The white haired kid with the number 99 came up from behind their group and ran beside Gon. "How old are you?" the other brat asked.

"I am twelve years old." answered Gon honestly.

"And how old are you?" he turned his head to Last Order who once again started to drive circles around them.

"Misaka is eleven years old, answers Misaka while Misaka raised her fist happily to the ceiling." she told them cheerfully. The white haired kid starred at her for a moment, before his face turned into a nice red shade, but still pointed his finger at her.

"Oye, you are the one who stole my skateboard!" the kid shouted reproachfully and everyone looked surprised at her.

"Stolen, asked Misaka as Misaka tries to look innocent. Misaka merely borrowed it from you, says Misaka. You will get it back once this boring running test ended, states Misaka as Misaka tries to look neutral and composed." Well, his little brat was right.

"Whatever." the brat turned with a slight blush back to Gon, "My name is Killua."

"I am Gon." He, being the over protective brother of course, saw the slight blush on number 99's face and scolded. He would get her away from him and before Killua could ask her for her name, they began to drive to the front and take a look. They passed Nicolas who was sweating profusely, drool running from his mouth and snot from his nose, eyes wide and panting like there was no tomorrow. He looked at his watch. Three and a half hour already passed, so they run probably fifty kilometers. Too bad number 187 obviously only trained for those forty kilometers. They did not even spare him a pitiful look and continued their journey to the front.

"I won't accept that!" they heard a wail from behind but kept driving forward. They passed the smirking clown brothers, Amori, Imori and Umori, who were slowing down a bit and Tonpa who jumped out of their way as soon as he met his death glare. There was another wail behind them which was also ignored. Tonpa looked smug; he had probably something to do with this. Rookie crushing was probably his hobby, well, he should not say something against him… his hobby often involved dead people. He looked to the front.

It was rather incredible. Right behind the examiner the pig wrestler, the Mickey Mouse huntsman, the bald ninja with weird eyebrows, the snake man, a monkey man, also a woman, the living pincushion and the magician were running and not even sweating that much. Whoa, not so bad. At least they all had great stamina. He looked once more at his watch. More than four hours had already passed and they traveled at least sixty kilometers.

And it was still boring. He thought the Hunter Exam was supposed to be exiting, not dull as hell. He sighed loudly; he could do nothing against it. He even thought about taking out some of the other participants, but it would be too dangerous for him and the brat. He could accidently touch the floor and the whole tunnel could collapse and bury them alive. No, using his power here was far too dangerous and maybe a little bit suicidal. They passed the first crowd and drove comfortably beside the man called Satotz.

After ten minutes the examiner looked his way and fixed his stare on his skateboard. His blue eyes started to glow shortly before returning to its original pale blue color. "My, oh my, I have never seen something like that before. If you do not mind me asking you, but how does it run without you doing anything?" the others behind them seemed to try to listen in on this conversation. They were probably on one side pissed and on the other interested, because he was stiff but comfortable standing on the skateboard not really moving a finger or lifting his foot to push and not sweating or looking as if he did something. They probably thought, Last Order's scooter had some kind of huge battery somewhere installed to drive so long, but he was just standing on a magical or maybe Nen or aura powered skateboard or something like that.

"My power." he said shortly. Of course he would not tell them anything about his 'vector change' ability and that he could stop the rotation of the planet if he put his mind into it or destroy whole cities and armies which was the definition of being a Level 5.

"Ne, mister examiner. How long do we have to do this, asks Misaka as Misaka tries to not yawn. It is so boring, exclaims Misaka loudly while looking bored around." said Last Order on the examiner's other side. He felt a little bit of killer intent from the participants behind him at her statement. Satotz looked surprised at the brat before answering,

"A while…" And they continued to drive beside the man. Boring. Sometimes Last Order would send a burst of energy to the scooter engine only to shoot pass them while laughing uncontrollably and to turn around and drive back to them. For a while she even talked animatedly to the examiner much to Satotz's amusement – she talked, he listened. Her still being so full of energy and the speaking in third person about herself seemed to really tick all those people behind them off, he chuckled.

And then after approximately eighty kilometer and some hours later, they reached the stairs. Those behind him started to snicker loudly, thinking now that the ground was not even anymore they had to run and would dropout. But he was not really sorry to disappoint them, Last Order and Accelerator just continued to drive on the left and right side of the examiner a little bit on the even wall. He just changed the vectors of gravity around him and she just the magnetic fields to stick the scooter to the metal wall. He heard some cries of outrage behind them, but simply ignored it. Satotz got even faster once the first group of participants was on the stairs. His steps could now take ten stairs in one go.

"Wait, are you serious?" the pig wrestler said behind them.

"That guy is insane." said the bald ninja, "He is prancing up the stairs as if they are not even there and those two are really pissing me off!" Baldy pointed his finger at them. As response Last Order just waved her arm happily at him. They continued to drive for some time before they finally saw the lights of the exit. The two kids, Killua and Gon, had managed to run to the front as well and that was rather incredible. Those two had more energy and stamina than most of the adults here.

"The exit!" they heard the ninja exclaim, "Whew… Finally, I can get out of this dark tunnel!" The others started to speed up when seeing the light. Tch, the wall by the last few stairs was vertically, so he told Last Order to give her scooter a burst of energy to jump the last few meters, which they both did. The examiner stopped right at the end of the stairs while Accelerator, Last Order, Gon and Killua passed him all at once.

"Goal!" the two children screamed loudly. They stopped a little bit away from the exit to not hinder the other participants of coming out. Accelerator and Last Order turned around to face them.

"Eh, how unfair. Since both of them had help, I am going to be the winner." said Killua to Gon while pointing at Accelerator and Last Order. They did have help, but what did it matter. Who was first was not important after all. He took the skateboard from the ground; he had to give it back to the white haired brat after all. He was not a nice guy, but if he said he would return it, he would.

"What are you talking about? I was first." said Gon. They continued their little fight.

"I was faster…" said Killua which was followed by a long 'Yes, I was.' and 'No, you were not.' and it ended with someone buying dinner or something like that. Accelerator looked around. Now there were in some kind of forestish environment. Foggy, wet, muddy, mixture between grassland and forest, nothing interesting like the place of the second phase anywhere and hopefully not another boring run...

"Hey, Satotz-san. Is this where the Second Phase of the exam takes places?" asked Gon curiously.

"No, we still have quite a way to go." answered the examiner. So it was another run and it looked like he could not use the skateboard or Last Order now her scooter. The ground was too uneven and muddy to even think about driving on it. He had to think of something else. There were not that many things he could do, but something will have to function, hopefully.

"Oh…" Accelerator just answers and gave Killua the skateboard back with a thankful nod of his head. Without it would have been troublesome to complete the first part of the still ongoing first test. They sat down on the ground and decided to wait for the other participants. It was boring again, sitting there starring at the fog.

Maybe he should take a little nap before trying to come up with a solid strategy. More and more people started to come out of the tunnel like for example the remaining part of the Gon group. Kurapika was still running normally up the stairs now only in his white full body training suit while Leorio was crawling at his hands and feet out of the tunnel only wearing his pants and his tie. Where was the man's suitcase? He looked around and realized that Gon also dragged Leorio's suitcase with him. Incredible.

"Hey, Kurapika!" yelled Gon joyfully.

"Is this our destination?" asked Kurapika after looking around.

"No, it is not." answered Gon.

"I see. The fog is fading." Only partly.

"Really?" Gon looks happily around. Some ravens cried out in the distance while the exit slowly started to close. They tuned their heads towards the examiner as Satotz began to say,

"The Numere Wetlands, also known as Swindlers Swamp. We must cross these wetlands to reach Phase Two of the exam. This place is home to many bizarre animals, many of them being cunning, insatiable creatures who deceive humans and prey upon them. Be very careful." Satotz turned around and looked at them, "If you let them fool you, you are dead." There was a nervous laughing in the group. The door behind slowly closed itself. One of the slower participants trying to reach for the exit, before it fully closed. "These wetland creatures will use every trick in the book to fool their prey." the participants turned back to the examiner. "An ecosystem in which creatures obtain food through deceit. Hence the name Swindlers Swamp. Stay very close to me so you won't be deceived."

"What a joke." Leorio spat, "How can they fool us, when we are expecting it?" Said the idiot who nearly drank the tampered soda and who did not really understand the instruction 'follow me' and thought they were cheating. Well, they were, but it was allowed.

As if it was planed they heard a voice from behind one of the sidewalls of the exit, "Don't let them fool you!" Everyone turned around to face the person to which the voice belonged.

"I just said that they cannot." said Leorio stupidly. Sometimes it was better to just shut up then to say something embarrassing.

"D-do not fall for it…" came from the corner. A dirty blonde haired man appeared, "He is lying to you!" the man pointed at their examiner. Apparently he was dragging something behind him. "He is an impostor! He is not an examiner, I am the real examiner." A weakling? This beaten-up weakling should be the real examiner. What an idiot.

"An impostor?" asked over half of the participants. Ohoho, now things were getting more interesting, but they should do so quickly. He wanted to get out of here and eat something and maybe nap a little bit. His still continuing and growing boredom did not really help the situation.

"What is going on?" Leorio asked for once quietly.

"Then who is he?" asked the ninja from the other side of the crowd.

"Look at this." the man dragged an ape like being with a face not even halfway similar to the one of the examiner into view.

"He looks just like Satotz-san!" said Gon, Killua just looked skeptical at them. There were not many similarities between Satotz and the whatever-it-was-in-the-first-place. It did have the same light violet hair and hair style like the examiner and a somehow similar mustache, but the rest, the shape of the face, the height and the proportion of the limbs of the creature were all just too different from the real thing.

"It is a Man-Faced Ape, one of the creatures that dwell in the Numere Wetlands!" Ah, the creature was an ape, an ape, which could speak, and look and dress like a normal human and manage to infiltrate the Hunter Exam. Bull shit… ah, he was getting irritated.

"A Man-faced Ape?!" Leorio yelled surprised. The man clearly did not know when to keep quiet.

"Man-faced Apes love the taste of fresh human flesh. However their limbs are long and thin, so they are quite weak." He was slim too and looked physically weak and was still a human being. Only that was not really a good argument. "That is why they disguise themselves as humans. They trick humans into following them into these wetlands, where they team up with other animals to kill and devour them. He intends to trap every single applicant!" the man pointed his finger at Satotz. There was a general exclaim of a mixture between surprise and outrage after the 'real' examiner's statement, but let's just cut the crap. He wanted food, a nap and then some entertainment and in exactly that order, so let's get this on.

"I have a question." said Accelerator for all to hear. "Just how weak are you?"

"W-what?" answered the 'real' examiner surprised, but he was not the only one. Most of the participants looked confused at him. They probably thought something like, 'What does this matter? Talk about random questions…' It was kind of pissing him off, but while looking through the crowd he discover some who thought about the meaning of his statement and some of them who already knew the answer. Accelerator took some steps towards the 'real' examiner.

"You seem to know these Man-Faced Apes quite well, don't you? So you as a man, who managed to pass the hunter exam years ago, were taken out by such an animal, which you just proclaimed as physically weak? And now you point your finger at the Hunter who brought us through a part of the First Phase, because you have found a cheap imitation of him in this forest from which you could miraculously flee after the apes beat you unconscious and did not eat you? Idiot." he said, "Please, Satotz-san. Can we continue with the test, I am bored as hell and maybe even beyond. If some of those losers are as stupid as that and get tricked by an ape, let them go with the impostor. At least then we don't have to worry about too many idiots participating." He said rather loudly. It would have been even more boring if everybody went with the impostor and nobody remained. So he could still watch others get killed. He turned back to face the imitation.

"And for you, you dirty piece of shit. Go back to the hole you came out of I will send you six feet under myself." He sent his death glare at the creature. The 'unconscious' ape in his arms jumped up and ran for his life and the impostor not that far away. There was another loud outcry of surprise from half of the participants.

"He was attempting to confuse the applicants, to lure some of them away." said Satotz as explanation cutting through their stupor.

"We cannot relax our guard." whispered Killua to Gon besides him.

"Yeah." answered Gon shortly.

"You will be encountering such deceptions on a regular basis. I believe that a number of you were fooled into suspecting my identity?" Ninja and Leorio laughed nervously. Idiots…

"Do you understand? If you lose sight of me in the Numere Wetlands fog, you will never reach the exam's Second Phase. Do bear that in mind. Then let us be on our way. Please follow me." Satotz turned around and started to walk like at the beginning of Phase One. Three hundred sixty seven ran quickly after the examiner, thirty six already dropped out and Accelerator and Last Order remained behind. While sitting around and waiting for the others he came up with a rather ingenious plan. Of course the needed also luck and whatnot, but there was a fifty percent chance that they would manage to get to the Second Phase.

"What will we do now, asked Misaka as Misaka looks after the last participants who vanished in the fog." Yes, he did have an idea and hopefully it would work exactly his way. He began to explain.

"The ground is too wet, muddy and uneven for us to run or drive; we would probably get stuck in the ground and get all of our clothes dirty. I also do not think that the examiner will run circles through this forest, only straight ahead. It is for the participants already difficult enough to just follow him, so he would probably not make it too complicated. My solution would be to fly into the direction in which Satotz went." he told her seriously. He would not go into his awakened state, but he could feel a faint wind in this area. He would use this to create whirlwinds behind his back and propel himself into the sky and then forward. This was the only thing they could do in this situation.

"YEAHO, flying, yells Misaka as Misaka runs around wildly." She wrapped her arms around his neck. He concentrated the wind behind his back in circular motion and they took off into the sky hoping that they would find the place of the Second Phase in the direction Satotz and the other participants were running.

* * *

_**AN: That was part of first phase of the Hunter Exam. I read somewhere that Accelerator reflected/redirected the UV rays of the sun, which was the reason why he was so pale and had white hair and red eyes, so I thought he would also be able to negate the effect of gravity. As for flying around… that's what he mostly did in the fight. I think first against the teleporter from GROUP, then 'Number 2' and so on.**_

_**I decided to make this fanfiction mostly anime (new) based, because there are occasionally different events and it sometimes get complicated with the skipping around between old and new anime and the manga. Next chapter will be the Second Phase.**_


	5. Chapter 04 Phase II

**Chapter 04 - Phase II**

The sun just began to rise, painting the sky in a mixture of different shades of red and yellow. Now that was rather interesting. From below the mist nothing could be seen, only that it was probably daytime. No sun, no sky, no clouds, nothing. He himself had not realized that it was already morning even though he had looked at his watch sometime during Phase One. He looked at his watch again and realized that is was already half past six.

Amazing how fast time could pass even if you were bored stiff on a skateboard without killing anybody or watching television. No wonder he was so cranky before! He decided that once they reached the location of the Second Phase he would take a nap and eat something. He was a little less than twenty-four hours awake and had not eaten for more than twelve. A killing spree against his crankiness sounded better and better by each passing minute.

He thought back about what had happened yesterday and was grateful for sleeping in a little bit and relaxing the rest of the day. Last Order and he were eating a late lunch at this restaurant PAROXYSME or whatsoever-its-name-was, because his little sister decided to once again explore the city and look at all those different, exotic things at each sales booth closely.

He had to be constantly with her since she would buy whatever junk she found interesting with his god damned money! But after seeing her happy smile, he could not really be mad at her through. The only things she ever saw were Academy City and nothing else really. She was 'born' there, lived there and although she was in Russia with him, she was mostly in coma and what the hell? Russia? Snow, snow and more snow… it was not like there was anything other than enemy bases to see in this snow hell. So it was different, even for him, going through such an exotic and unique city.

He heard another scream, looked down and saw nothing but a few treetops from the bigger trees. Well, those people sure were unlucky bastards, running around blindly through the mist and defending themselves against either humans or different kinds of exotic creatures. It was probably fun, he could kill some of them without anyone being any wiser, but he really was not a runner. He hated running. Walking was okay, to hell! Even riding a bicycle was acceptable, but he really hated running with an unrivalled passion.

He opened his wings wide and continued to float for now. It had been a while since he had 'flown'. He usually only did it in fights - when he was in danger or trying to kill someone - but like this it felt rather nice and relaxing. Not stressful or life threatening like usually. He looked at Misaka's smiling face, her eyes were wide and her mouth opened in pleasant surprise. He should do this more often with the little brat, but where nobody could see them. He did not want to show possible enemies all of his trump cards this early in the game after all.

They continued flying for a while, but still could only see the foggy forest slash grassland beneath them. From time to time they heard a scream or many screams - if it was a group - beneath them and therefore knew they were on the right way. Until now the examiner apparently ran in a straight line in the same direction so they decided to pass them. He was hungry, he was tired, he was bored even if the atmosphere up here was pleasant and calming, he had enough.

He gave his 'wings' a little power burst, shoot through the sky at ridiculous speeds and in only twenty minutes they reached the end of the misty land. He flew slower now searching the ground for any clues. There had to be something for the second phase. They already ran for many hours first in the tunnels, then the stairs and now through the mist and wet high grass. Some of the participants already looked half dead before they decided to try their luck in the fog, but they were probably already dead.

They scanned the ground and found it. On a hill surrounded by normal looking forest and gigantic stonewalls stood an enormous expensive looking villa. That had to be their destination. If it was not then they were just unlucky and would try again next year, but he was ninety-five percent sure this was their goal.

All around was nothing, but forest to see. They continued to float until they were right before the huge metal double door, the entrance to the villa. He could have flown into it, but this would have been rude. Accelerator knocked normally. Nobody came. He used a little bit more strength and dented the metal door slightly where the back of his hand touched the rough surface. If nobody came now, he would just blast open the door and invite himself in. But he was a gentleman – sometimes – and would wait a bit before destroying anything.

After approximately three minutes a woman with olive green eyes and bright turquoise hair opened the door. She seemed to be surprised by their presence. He looked at her a little bit more closely. She had a physical fit body, a normal skin tone, the back of her hair into 5 top knots with pink ribbons and she wore a violet black bikini top with a mesh shirt worn over it, alongside daisy duke denim shorts. Not so bad.

"Huh?" she asked, "What are you doing here?" She looked them up and down and saw the Hunter Exam plate on their chest, "Are you participants in the Hunter Exam?" she inquired while pointing her finger at them.

"Yes." Accelerator answered with a blank stare before Last Order screamed a loud "Good Morning!" at her.

"Why are you two here?"

"For the Hunter Exam." Logical answer but she still looked rather surprised at them.

"Are not you a little bit early for that?" Well, yes. He cheated his way through like usual and brought his little sister with him.

"Yes, we took a shortcut." She looked at them perplexed before starting to laugh loudly.

"Hahaha, why not. I will let you in and you tell me how you got here so fast." She opened the door wide to let them in, her eyes widening for a second when she saw the dents in the iron gates. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Deal." Last Order squealed as she ran past the woman inside the property. He went past her at a normal pace while she locked the door behind them.

They walked towards the mansion past many boards and large grills. He looked around curiously, it remained him a cooking show, but an extreme version of said cooking show from hell. On the different tables were as 'spices' salt and pepper, four different sharp knives, a spit, a large bowl with different kinds of vegetables: charlottes, onions, zucchini, tomatoes, salad, bell pepper, aborigines, garlic and field garlic, a towel, a sink and different pans and pots, a garbage can and beside the table an enormous grill.

Thinking about food did not really help their stomachs through, they grumbled in protest. He was hungry and lucky. Seemed like he could get food here.

"Would you like something to eat?" asked the woman after hearing their stomachs grumble.

"Yes, that would be appreciated." See, he could be nice and polite if he wanted to. If he could gain something from it… like for example food.

* * *

Menshi was rather surprised when she heard someone knock on her door. Loud. She knew that they still had a few hours time left until the wannabe hunters would reach their front door and therefore the second phase of the exam. But who could this really be? It was not like they had any kind of neighbors here. No normal person would survive it in this environment.

She glanced at Buhara who just returned her confused look. So he also did not knew who this could be. She stopped preparing Buhara's and her breakfast and started walking towards the massive iron gates. Time to find out whoever managed to get lost in this forest just to land somehow in front of their door.

She opened it and saw two people standing outside.

One was a teenage boy – approximately seventeen or eighteen years old - with white shoulder-length hair and dark red eyes clad in a white long coat and… was that a crutch he had in his hand? The boy looked annoyed if she went with the scowl he wore on his face.

The little girl who was looking curiously around – she was approximately ten or eleven years old - had brown hair and eyes and wore a blue dress with a white jacket. She looked just plain happy and interested around. Weird people. Not the typical 'I am lost in a forest with many man-eating creatures after me and need help.' Both of them looked healthy and fine.

"Huh?" she asked, "What are you doing here?" Her eyed widened in surprise when she saw their hunter exam badges, number 406 and 407. There were here for the Hunter Exam? Already? No, they could not have been this fast, it was still morning and she could not see Satotz anywhere around or any other participants for that matter. "Are you participants in the Hunter Exam?" she inquired while pointing her finger at them.

"Yes." The boy answered while the girl screamed "Good Morning!"

"Why are you two here?" she asked seriously. How the hell did they get here anyway? Maybe this was some kind of prank.

"For the Hunter Exam." Even through she saw both of their badges, she was still surprised.

"Are not you a little bit early for that?" Like six or more hours early!

"Yes, we took a shortcut." She looked at them perplexed before starting to laugh loudly. Shortcut? Seriously? She knew the way Satotz would take from the tunnels to their mansion and it was a straight line! Hahaha, how could they take a shortcut if it was a frigging straight line? Hahaha.

"Hahaha, why not. I will let you in and you tell me how you got here so fast." She opened the door wide to let them in. She seriously wanted to hear this story! It must have been amazing! Her eyes widening for a second when she saw the dents in the iron gates. What the hell? Did he make those? She looked at the boy again. He looked pathetically weak, but she would have to be careful. Normally only physically strong people or Nen-users could make dents into iron gates or walls. The boy had to be the later to do so.

The suddenly tense atmosphere was broken by a squeal of delight from the girl who just ran past her inside the property. The boy followed her while she closed the door and walked behind them. While they looked around she told Buhara in sign language that the boy was probably already a Nen-user and to be cautious. Buhara just nodded in understanding.

Usually people did not learn about Nen until after they became hunters so either way he learned about it from another hunter or he learned it himself. Normally she was not wary around wannabe hunters, but Nen was always unpredictable. His Nen could be the simplest thing up to the most amazing and destructive power. She was brought out of her thoughts by a loud grumbling sound. Oh, they were probably hungry.

"Would you like something to eat?" she asked. Maybe she could find out more about those two while they were sitting down and eating.

"Yes, that would be appreciated." He answered politely as they walked towards the platform right before their mansion.

"Buhara? Could you please bring another couch for our guests?" Buhara grunted affirmative and went into the house. After a few minutes he returned with a couch under his arm, which they placed, on the right side of the table.

"Do you want anything special?" Menshi asked. The girl had now stars in her eyes and opened her mouth to answer only to be interrupted by a "Whatever you make us is fine." from the boy. The girl pouted.

Menshi started cooking. She would make a simple breakfast with eggs, toast, bacon, ham etc. The girl looked at her thoughtfully for a few seconds before asking, "Ne, ne, ne. What is your name and are you also examiners asks Misaka as Misaka tries not to sound too forward. Misaka is called Last Order and Misaka's big brother is Accelerator explains Misaka as Misaka looks interested at the things you cook." So… the girl talked about herself in third person with the name Misaka but wanted others to call her Last Order. Maybe this was some kind of nick or stage name or whatever and the boy was called Accelerator. Another nickname and both of them were siblings. She looked from the girl – Last Order – to the boy – Accelerator - and back again. Maybe they were more like adopted siblings. Yes, that would be the only logical conclusion.

"My name is Menshi and the one behind me is Buhara. We are both the examiners for Phase Two." She answered.

From then on they talked about little things like the weather at first, about some cooking recipes – with the little girl since the boy did not seem to have any idea what they were talking about - where they came from – a little village near Zaban City - and the hunter exam – they were really participants and no, this was seriously no prank.

When she asked how they got here so fast, the boy just answered, "We flew…" but did not elaborate any more than that. It had to be his Nen ability, she was sure! She really liked to know about it, but never got an answer from both.

After a while of exchanging whatever stories they asked if they could take a nap for now which was okay with them. She could continue to watch them and let them sleep until the other participants arrived. Maybe she would find out more once the second test started.

* * *

_Meanwhile seven hours later, two o'clock, lunchtime_

"Gon." Killua screamed from the other side of the crowd. He ran towards his three 'friends'. He was not sure if this was the right term. After all he never really had any friends growing up in a family of assassins. Well if he was honest with himself only Gon was a friend, the other two were just Gon's sidekicks. One of them was called Kura-something and the name from the annoying older one he had already forgotten.

"Killua!" Gon yelled happily in return. He always seemed to be happy.

"I cannot believe you actually got here… I thought you were done for." That was pure honesty. After he had lost him somewhere in the fog, he thought he would never see them again, but Gon proved himself to be – not as strong as Kiliiua of course – but not so bad either.

"I just tracked Leorio's cologne." Gon answered honestly.

"Cologne?" Killua asked surprised. "That was how?" He deadpanned. "You definitely are weird." Before they could talk more, they were interrupted by Satotz.

"Excellent work, everyone." Everyone turned to Satotz, "Phase Two of the exam will occur here, in the Biska Forest Park. So, I shall take my leave. Best of luck to all of you." He began to walk away calmly, back from where most of them just came. Killua looked around. It seemed like the guy who borrowed his skateboard and his sister did not manage to arrive here in time. Too bad, both of them seemed rather interesting.

* * *

"I think it is time." The cooking woman – Meshli or Meshi or Menshi was her name was not it? - said after she looked at the sun in the sky. Yeah! Misaka could not wait to see who else managed to get through the thick mist. Her big brother was still asleep on the couch snoring nearly soundlessly. If she woke him to tell him that he snored he would only get mad and deny everything. She had already tried.

The big man behind the woman pushed a little red button and the gigantic metal doors opened. Well there were far more participants than Misaka thought there would be. Brother still had some competition! Maybe the white haired kid and the one with the green elementary school outfit were here too. It was boring being one of the youngest participants while most of the others were old or creepy men.

"Will all applicants who passed the First Phase enter?" the woman asked politely as the other participants entered the property, "Welcome. I am Menchi, the Second Phase examiner." So Menchi was her name! She was sitting comfortably on the couch with the big man right behind it, towering over the couch and Menchi.

"And I am Buhara, the other examiner." said the big man. The couch with her brother was still standing on their right side and Misaka was sitting on the backrest comfortably. Some of the participants looked surprised and some pissed in their direction.

"Why the hell are they here?" One of them screamed and others nodded along.

"They were the first ones to arrive here. They passed." Menchi informed them casually. They continued to send death glares towards her and the sleeping form of her brother.

The big man's stomach grumbled loudly. Everyone looked from their couch towards the big man surprised, even Misaka was surprised! They had just eaten a few hours ago and he ate far more than all three of them combined. Was he some kind of back hole? Maybe he did have a black hole as stomach?

"W-what was that sound?" a random clearly unimportant participant asked. Menchi turned around towards the big man.

"You must be hungry." She said, the smile on her face turning a bit feral.

"I am starving…" Again! Incredible! How much food could he eat? Menchi stood up.

"There you have it. Phase Two will involve…" Everyone tensed, "Cooking." Menshi said happily as everyone nearly comically fell to the ground. It was almost like in a comic! Their faces sure looked funny!

"C-cooking?" asked Baldy with strange eyebrows shocked.

"Wait! Cooking? We are here to take the Hunter Exam!" yelled pig wrestler with a serious expression.

"That is quite right. Your challenge for the Second Phase is to produce a dish that will satisfy our palate." Menshi stated proudly. Misaka agreed. Cooking was not easy. Her big brother once tried to make Misaka something homemade to eat and burned half the kitchen of Yomikawa's apartment to the ground. Since then they usually went for food elsewhere like restaurants and things like that, but Misaka asked her old 'aunts' who owned the apartment and they showed Misaka how to cook.

"Why do we have to cook?!" Asked another random unimportant participant.

"That is because we are Gourmet Hunters." Menshi said seriously and a little bit dramatic. Drama Queen! Misaka applauded from the side, but the others started to snigger and laugh. How rude of them!

"Huh?" Pig wrestler began to laugh loudly like most of the others, "Men, what a letdown."

"They are Gourmet Hunters…" a random person was sniggering. The cooking woman was slowly turning into a tomato, but they still laughed at her. Stupid people. She was emitting some kind of scary aura – the same aura her brother emitted when he was pissed – but they still continued. They were really morons.

"So, Gourmet Hunter, what are we supposed to make?" Pig wrestler stated with an I-am-holier-than-thou attitude.

"Buhara." Menshi said. Buhara – now she would remember his name – stood up, his steps created little shockwaves on the ground. Was this some kind of special power or just his weight?

"The required ingredient is pork." Buhara informed them.

"Pork?" random participant asked, "As in pig meat?" Duh? Idiot! Of course! Now she understood what her aunts meant when they told her that men were mostly lost when it came to cooking and food! They were all idiots! Except her brother of course!

"You are free to use meat from any species of Biska Forest pigs." Buhara said, "You must use the cooking facilities here to prepare the pork. And you only pass if we both find it delicious."

Menshi looked strict and a little pissed off as she said, "And we will evaluate more than just the taste. Do not underestimate the intricacies of cooking. Got it?" Yes, she seemed to be really annoyed while most of the participants looked stupidly smug, "When we have both eaten our fill, the exam will end." They all continued to smile cockily.

"We get it. We get it." said pig wrestler as if the task was nothing, "Let's just start." He really was an idiot. Hopefully when brother woke up, pig wrestler would die in a pig hunting accident.

"Then, the exam's Second Phase…" Buhara hit his hand against his stomach flatly like a Chinese gong, "…begins now!" the participants started to run like a horde of rhinoceros quickly out of the property and into the forest surrounding the mansion. Misaka started to shake her brother awake. He grumbled and turned around; his back was now facing her. She continued to shake him.

"Free to use meat from any species of pigs? You have a real nasty streak." Menshi chuckled.

"Choosing the ingredients was my job." Buhara answered nonchalantly.

"Only one species of pig lives in the Biska Forest, correct?" Menshi asked.

"I hope they do not get themselves killed." Buhara's smile turned feral. Her brother was sitting up now. Hurray! She managed to get her brother up!

"Idiots." murmured her brother while standing up. They turned around and walked towards the exit. Catching a pig would be so much fun! Misaka could not wait!

* * *

After a while of walking around they found most participants looking behind bushes and trees for pigs while yelling stupid things. He took some stones from the ground and went over to where the pig wrestler – he did not remember his name because he was unimportant in the end - stood. He snapped one of the stones into his direction and accelerated its speed. The bullet like projectile bored itself into the pig wrestler's left leg. The man gave a painful yelp and fell to the ground clutching his now bleeding leg. He attempted to stand up while looking menacing to Accelerator.

"What the hell, you bastard? What are you doing?" Pig wrestler screeched loudly. Other participants stopped in their tracks and looked towards them.

"Tell me something you lowly pig, how can you a human being possibly be so stupid?" Accelerator asked with a sneer on his face. He really hated stupid people, but stupid people who made his life harder than it already was where usually dead meat.

"Huh?" He looked confused.

"Now that you made our future examiner with your stupid babble and laughter angry beyond return, this is all you got to say? After your little stunt only a few people will pass if any at all, you shit-head. Have you thought about this before insulting both of the examiner, asshole?" Accelerator asked sarcastically. Most people around got now surprised looks. Did they really just realize that they insulted the people who could kick them out of the exam? Stupid, stupider, stupidest.

"But they are Gourmet Hunters…" He tried to explain his thoughtless actions.

"And you are just some lowly no-name wrestler. I am quite sure she makes more money in three days than you make in a year with such a bullshit job. And for the others here, you have to thank the wrestler heartily because most of you are not going to pass. Congratulations, you fail epically! Idiots! Now go back there and apologize!" Pig wrestler looked shocked for a moment, before the surprise turned in a firm expression of defiance. Some people were seriously born only to get killed sooner or later. He would not go and apologize and the female examiner would just cut him to pieces and eat him the next time he decided to run his mouth. Possibly.

He wanted to shoot another stone at the pig wrestler, but a loud commotion from his left distracted him. The group of four - what were their names again? Gon, Kurapika, Leorio and Killua when he remembered correctly - was running from a horde of two and a half meter high angry pigs with really big snouts. So that were the pigs they had to slaughter for meat? Well, let's get this on.

All of them tried something different approaches. Some participants were stopped to death, some were eaten – he had not known that there was a species of pigs, which were carnivore…

"These pigs are crazy!" He heard the man in the suit, Leorio, yell loudly as he watched as yet another participant was sent flying and landed on the ground with a lot of broken bones.

"Take that!" screamed pig wrestler as he threw a massive stone towards the pig. He had bandaged his leg with ripped parts of his sleeve for now, but was still bleeding a bit. The pig destroyed the stone. "What?" Pig wrestler looked rather surprised. He just snorted. It seemed like they really did make both of the examiners angry.

The bald ninja threw some of his metal shuriken, but once again the pig won. "Huh?" he exclaimed surprised as he jumped over the pig in an attempt to get away.

"Look here, fulltime losers. I will show you how it is done." Accelerator said as he stood his ground and just stretched his hand out. He concentrated his vector change ability to just one centimeter from his hand and not his usual personal space and when the pig attacked, he redirected its power and broke the pig's skull and parts of its spine. And it all looked as if the pig just ran into his hand and died. Hehehe.

"How did you do that?" the kid clad in green, Gon, asked excitedly. He was jumping up and down with amazement.

"Brother is unfair and used his special ability to kill the pig, states Misaka as Misaka tries to explain the situation." His little sister said. Special ability? Huh? Well, why not… it was the truth after all.

"So you do not know?" Gon asked looking like a kicked puppy.

"No, I know, but you can only do this if you are my brother, informs Misaka as Misaka glances towards her brother."

"Don't you also need a pig?" asked the blond boy, Kurapika.

"No why? I am working together with my brother. Nobody said anything against it, explains Misaka as Misaka looks at them surprised. Are you stupid or what?" His little sister asked with her usual wide innocent eyes. Leorio was twitching to scream bloody murder at her, but Kurapika stopped him and inquired,

"Do you know how to cook?" All of them looked interested at her.

"Yep, my aunts taught me since big brother burned half of the kitchen down when he tried. He muttered something about evil rice cookers, but denied everything later on, says Misaka as Misaka remembers the scene." The brat was today even more annoying then ever. Maybe it had something to do with other children her age being around her.

"Gon! You hear this? Gon…" They watched as Gon tried to hit another pig with his fishing rod but it just continued to run. Gon never stood a chance. The pig raced onwards against a tree and then fell unconscious. What the hell happened? Oh, the foreheads of the pigs were their weak point, which was why they had these big indestructible snouts to protect it. Not bad, really not bad.

"Gon! How about we also work together?" Killua yelled towards Gon.

"Good idea. Leorio and Kurapika should work together too. What do you think?" Gon yelled back.

"Not a bad idea. I have not thought about it like this." Kurapika kicked another pig in the head and together they brought all three pigs back to the property where both examiners were waiting impatiently.

"What should we do now?" Gon asked as he walked over to where Misaka was starting to prepare the ingredients.

"It is as easy as that…" he turned the rest out. He completely sucked at cooking. Gon, Killua and Leorio stood at the cooking tables with Misaka as she explained what to do and what not to do. He sat down on a patch of grass and leaned against the huge stonewall. It would probably take some time until they finished.

"Can I ask you a question?" Accelerator looked up at the blond and nodded. "How were you able to reach this place before us?" Kurapika asked. He just smirked. No, he would not tell them about his ability for a while. Let them think in circles about his power. Kurapika seemed to notice that he would not answer.

"Has this something to do with the power you used to kill the pig in the forest?" The blond continued to ask.

"Tch, it is one and the same." Kurapika looked surprised. He could possibly not think about a connection between coming here so soon and killing the pig without really touching it.

"Cool, how did you get it?" asked Gon who listened in on the conversation. The other three looked at him expectantly.

"That is complicated to answer. My powers are probably one of the most unusual abilities possible, I would say, but I also trained hard and lived through many traumatizing things to be able to control it as well as I do now." Talk in riddles. How funny.

"Can everybody do this?" asked Killua.

"Yes, but it is different from person to person. The ability is called Nen."

"Nen?" They asked.

"You learn about it once you pass the exam." He did not want to talk to them anymore. Maybe he should take another nap for now or relax at least a little bit. He observed his surroundings through half closed eyes.

Kurapika went over to Leorio to help him and Killua to Gon. He continued to stay on the side for now since he knew he was completely useless in anything kitchen related. He glanced around curiously and saw other people also working in groups of two. The freaky pincushion guy and the clown – Hisoka his mind supplied – were looking either constipated or concentrated at Misaka and copied her movements. Well, they were not half bad. More than thirty minutes passed before the pig wrestler was the first to present his roasted pig to the examiners. He failed.

After the first five fails the other participants finally began to think and look around. Most of them changed their plan of presenting just a roasted pig and tried to create something else. Some even went back into the forest to kill another pig and try again. Maybe not all of them were idiots…

Another thirty minutes later Misaka was finished and both of them went towards the stage in the front. Menchi took a bite exclaimed a loud "Both of you pass." and Misaka screeched happily. Thank god this was over now.

Team blond and black, team kiddos and the creepy team also managed to pass without problems. The other teams he just turned out. They were mostly unimportant people to begin with.

* * *

_**AN: Thanks go to reven228 who talked, helped and motivated me. Well, this is it for Phase Two. **_


	6. Chapter 05 Between Phase II and III

**Chapter 04 – Between Phase II and III**

Even through Menchi was unhappy about the earlier incident, most of the participants, who managed to get back from their excursions alive, passed her cooking test. But before explaining the reason and meaning of the second phase, she herself went into the woods only to come back with two unconscious Biska pigs in tow.

She said that she was going to cook them all a meal, for those who won and even the losers. She showed them various tricks while cooking, such as what to do when one was in the wildness without any food rations and had to prepare his own with the help of the environment. It was rather interesting to listen to her lecture. He could see on the faces on most of the other participants that they now started to really listen to her and her tips.

When she was finished cooked, all of them got a good-sized portion of what they thought to be normal pork stew and it tasted delicious. Better than any pig meat he had ever eaten before in Academy City. It was amazing. His little sister was running around happily in amazement and happiness sharing her thought on the food with the others of their group.

Menchi started to explain to them what the test was all about in the end. The participants had to try something new and be creative; it was about focus and the willingness to experiment. Cooking was not as easy as everyone thought at first, that they now knew. Gourmet hunters frequently ventured into the dens of ferocious beasts – far worse than the Biska forest pigs – searching for ingredients. Every Hunter knew some form of material art, so they were not helpless. Only because they search for new foods and flavors did not mean that they were weak as was seen when the pig wrestler tried to attack her after she had failed him.

At least the other failed participants were not so stupid any more to simply follow the moron to their certain doom at the hands of the female Gourmet Hunter and remained silent for the duration of their stay. They did not want to be hacked to pieces by her four rather sharp looking 'cooking' knives or squished to death by the hands of Buhara for disrespecting them.

As they waited for something to happen, she continued to tell them stories about the things that happened to her while traveling around the world. They told them about the spider eagle eggs, which were a delicacy in the world, and how she had to jump down a cliff to get to them. Most of them twitched in surprise when they heard aloud voice above them.

"Hohoho! Well said Menchi." They looked up only to see a gigantic airship with the symbol of the Hunters Association on its sides hovering fifty meters over the ground..

"That's the symbol of the Hunters Association!" yelled a random participant. Well, were not you an intelligent person? Idiot. "Is this someone from the Selection Committee?" Someone jumped out of the window of the airship and landed right between the examiners and them, the wannabe hunters.

At first they could not see anything at all because of the dust and debris flying around through the impact of said person on the ground. Once it settled, Accelerator glanced towards the figure.

The person appeared to be a 'helpless' old man, but they had to be careful nevertheless. He jumped down from at least thirty meters and did not even have a scratch on him. The old man had a ponytail, a thick beard, and stretched earlobes with two piercings in both ears and again those eyebrows - they were comically long. There was seriously something wrong with people's eyebrows here. Accelerator tried to remember where he had seen his face before. He was wearing a traditional man's kimono and pair of geta.

"Wh-who is that geezer?" he heard someone mutter behind him.

"The Chairman of the Selection Committee. He is in charge of the Hunter Exam… Chairman Netero." stated Menchi and then he remembered. The old man was called Isaac Netero. He was the 12th chairman of the Hunters Association and once considered the strongest Nen user in the world during his prime. He also belonged to the Seirin Group, a group with the most skilled and legendary members. He was a material artist and very powerful in hand-to-hand combatant, capable of unleashing punches reported to be as fast as the speed of sound or so he read after using his vector change ability to hack into the Hunter website.

"Well, I work behind the scenes. I only take action when there is an issue, but I am quite happy to see that you passed most of them even through they were at the beginnings just plain rude. Good job, Menchi, Buhara. Hohoho." The old man chuckled happily, his eyes twinkling with badly hidden mirth.

"Why are you here, Chairman?"

"Hohoho, I am here to bring all those who passed to the location of the Third Phase. So please follow me!" The old man turned around and walked towards the airship which landed just outside the stonewalls of the property. They continued to follow him through the corridors until they reached something like an observation platform. The green – whatever it was in the first place – stood there apparently waiting for them. The old geezer turned around to face them.

"Allow me to introduce myself to the sixty-two remaining applicants. I am Netero, Chairman of this year's Hunter Exam Selection Committee." said the old man.

"And I am his secretary, Beans." speaks the 'froggy' like subject.

"Froggy!" he heard Last Order squeal besides him. So she thought about the same thing.

"Originally, I had planned to make my appearance during the exam's final phase, but I was worried about Menchi letting no one pass because of her bad habits and well, as I am already here…" He paused dramatically to look at them more closely. "I am loving this tension in the air!" he said enthusiastically. "So I think I will stick around for the rest of the trip. Hohoho!"

"We are scheduled to arrive at our destination tomorrow morning at 8 am. You will find dinner waiting in the dinning hall." informed Froggy. "You are also welcomed to get some rest. In other words you are free to do as you please until you are contacted." Most of them nodded their head positively. Accelerator started to follow the others towards the dinning hall, when he was stopped by a smiling brat.

"Okay, Gon! Let's explore the airship!" He heard Killua say excitedly behind him.

"Yeah! You want to come too?" asked Gon as he looked at his little sister. Like hell…

"Hurray! Exploring, shouts Misaka as Misaka begins to jump around animatedly. Big brother you are coming too, are not you?" Damned the brat and her teary puppy eyes. Damned her. His left eye twitched dangerously; nevertheless he nodded positively. He had to look that those rascals did not do anything to his lovely yet annoying little sister or get her into trouble.

As he walked calmly behind the three running children he could hear Leorio mutter, "How can they have so much energy? I am hitting the sack." which was answered by a "You can say that again." by Kurapika. The rest of the conversation he did not catch because they were already walking towards the other end of the room.

* * *

_Meanwhile in one of the private rooms_

"Hey, how many applicants do you expect to make it?" asked Menchi while she, Buhara and Satotz were eating dinner in their private room.

"You mean pass the exam?" Buhara wanted to know.

"Yep. This year we have an impressive group. Through I was thinking of failing most of them all at one point…" Menchi trailed off.

"But does not it depend on what the upcoming phases consist of?" Buhara frowned.

"That is true… But did not you notice it? One of them had this whole aura thing going on. What do you think, Satotz?" She pointed her fork at him.

"Oh, yes. I like the rookies this year."

"Ha! So you agree? I think number 294 has a good shot." Menchi said happily while chewing.

"I am partial to number 99." Satotz answered.

"He looks like a selfish, spoiled brat. What do you think, Buhara?"

"Well, he is not a rookie, but number 44 is the one I favor. I am sure you noticed, but when number 255 was throwing a fit, it was number 44 who was really on the verge of killing someone." She nodded along.

"What about number 406 and 407?" Satotz questioned.

"I really do not know what to think about them. They are like the ultimate mystery. They were our surprise guests in this exam. Normally the navigators would have sent us all the information, but since they did not go through the usual way, we did not know anything. Only their supposed nickname and their appearance." She pouted.

"Did they send anyone to investigate?"

"Yes, they appeared some weeks ago just outside a little village near Zaban City. They helped a few villages to get rid of their thug and bandit problems and managed to earn that way some money. Their abilities are both unknown but said to be strong enough to send a group of thirty people in the hospital without breaking a sweat. Then they traveled to Zaban City and found through pure luck the elevator shaft down to the Hunter Exam. Number 407 also destroyed part of the building over the exam site since the owner did not want to help him look for number 406…"

"Anything else?" Satotz tried to clarify.

"Sadly no. We do not know their real names only that the girl's supposed first name is Misaka since she talks in third person and uses this name. Really disappointing. Say, Satotz. Where you able to track the movements of their badges through the first phase?"

"Yes, apparently they really went in a straight line from the tunnels in the direction of your mansion, but I never saw them pass me on the way there. I am not even sure how they knew where to go in this kind of fog. Normal orientation tricks did not work since they were not able to see the sky and therefore the sun or at night the moon and the stars. It was as if they could ignore the mist."

"Number 407 said that they flew." Satotz looked at her funnily. "Which would explain a little bit but now even more questions popped up. In the air above the mist he could have been following you through the screams of the other 'dying' participants and then flew past you. It would also explain how he was able to find us. There was nothing in this forest but our mansion. Or something like that."

"But how was he able to fly?" asked Buhara.

"It has probably to do with his Nen ability. When I opened the doors to let them in, I saw that there were dents in the iron. He must be able to pack a punch. And later on I could not stop myself from listening to their conversation. He used his ability to kill one of the Biska pigs without problems. I really wonder what his ability is…"

"What about number 406? Do we know something about her?"

"No, not really. They said they were siblings but well… they do not look anything alike. Maybe he adopted her as his little sister. That would make the most sense to me."

"Both of them and number 44 should be carefully monitored."

"Yes, I agree. This years rookies really seem to be interesting. Hopefully we see more of them in the next few phases."

* * *

The brats continued to run happily around the corridors trying to open each and every door they found. Not that they found something interesting of course. He continued to just walk normally behind them, looking that nothing happened to his little sister.

Gon was no problem. He was completely honest and probably could not lie to save himself out of a paper bag. He was also far too naïve and a happy go lucky idiot. Accelerator was more worried about the other one. He felt the same darkness from the kid he had some time back. Killua was the more dangerous one of the two. He would keep an eye out for him.

While walking around they also visited the kitchen where all of them took something to eat without permission. Because of this they were kicked out of the kitchen and banned from ever returning. We were allowed to eat in the Dinning Hall through.

They sat down on one of the benches in the corridor to look down on the passing cities below.

"Woah! It is like the ground is covered in jewels!" exclaimed Gon enthusiastically.

"Yeah!" nodded Killua along.

"It looks really pretty! I have never seen anything like that, says Misaka as Misaka looks around amazed."

"You never were on an airship before?" asked Killua interested.

"No, admits Misaka sadly. Misaka was never really out of our home city. When Misaka was sick, big brother traveled around with Misaka while trying to find a cure, but Misaka did not really see anything from outside at all, states Misaka sadly."

"Your home city?"

"It is hidden from the people of the outside world and called Academy City. It is a city of science and from the technological point more than thirty years more advanced than the rest of the world. There we were trained to use our powers." Accelerator explained.

"What about you, asks Misaka as Misaka looks to Gon."

"Oh, you were not there when I told Killua. I live with my aunt and grandmother on Whale Island. It is a little island where everyone knows everyone. Noko and I are the only children there, so it is rather small. It has much forest and not so much technology." They all looked towards Killua.

"My family owns Kukuroo Mountain. It is a dormant volcano located in Dentora Region of the Republic of Padokea approximately 3700 meters above sea level. The surrounding jungle also belongs to us. It is pretty spacious."

"Ah! You have a mom and dad?" Gon inquired.

"Yep."

"What do they do? They seemed to be rich, states Misaka as Misaka looks curiously at Killua."

"They are assassins."

"Huh? Both of them?" Gon asked. Killua just laughed.

"That is your first reaction? You really are a riot!" Killua continued after seeing Goon's confused expression. "You are the first person who has ever responded seriously."

"Well, you are telling the truth, right?" Gon frowned.

"What makes you think that?"

"It is just a hunch."

"That is weird… People only like me because they cannot ever tell whether I am serious. I am from a family of assassins. So they are all assassins. And my family has really high hopes for me… But I cannot stand it. Who wants to have their life planned out for them? When I told them I wanted to decide my own future, they all snapped!" Killua explained with a smile on his face.

"My mother had tears streaming down her face as she told me I have the potential to be a top assassin." Gon laughed uneasily. "Horrible parents, right? It is natural their kid would go bad. We ended up fighting. So I stabbed my mother in the face, my brother in the side, and ran away from home. I am sure they are out for my blood now." Killua said with a knowing expression.

"But if they find me, I will send them packing. When I become a Hunter, I will start by capturing my family. I am sure they are worth some hefty bounties…" It was rather amusing watching the different expressions pass on Killua's face.

"Should not you be happy to have a family? A mother and a father, asks Misaka as Misaka looks at him confused."

"Heh? You think so? What about you then, do you have a family?"

"Misaka does not know about her parents, but has a few sisters back home. And Misaka is the smallest one, explains Misaka as Misaka thinks things through."

"But why are you traveling around with him when you have sisters?" Killua pointed at Accelerator.

"Misaka's sisters are always busy and big brother saved Misaka from dying two times already. Sisters always have things to do and it was so boring and big brother really seemed lonely. He always talked with the other sisters in the Level 6 Shift and always tried to look like he was the bad and evil one, but Misaka knew that brother was in reality an angel and would protect Misaka, states Misaka as Misaka looks serious!" Both of the boys looked at her confused.

"You are talking to much again, brat."

"And you?" All three of them looked at him expectantly. The brat also looked at him with a pleading expression. He never liked to talk about his blood stained past. Whatever was before that he did not really remember anymore.

"Tch. I do not know. I do not remember my parents anymore, neither their names nor faces or voices. Nothing. I also forgot my original name. I think my last name consisted of two syllables and my first name three, but I am not really sure about it anymore. I am just Accelerator now."

"How can you forget your own name?" Accelerator just shrugged.

"I did not need it and many things happened in meantime. There was no place for remembering useless things I think. What about you, brat number three?" Accelerator tried to distract them from himself.

"Brat number three?" Gon asked. Accelerator pointed at Last Order and said, "Brat." and then to Killua, "Brat number two, which leaves you as number three." he said while pointing at Gon.

"I do not know who my mother was, but I know that my father is one of the best Hunters. That is why I am taking this Exam. When I am a Hunter too, it will be much easier to find him. Aunt Miko and grandmother are back on Whale Island."

"That is an interesting reason to become a hunter, says Misaka while Misaka nods her head positively."

"And why do you want to become Hunters?" asked Killua.

"Do you want the truth or something I just made up?" Accelerator raised his eyebrow challenging.

"Truth." Both of the boys said in union.

"It sounded fun and challenging. If I have the license, I can also kill people without getting arrested."

"Huh?" was Gon's intelligent answer.

"Hahaha, really? Are you more of an assassin or just serial killer or more like a bounty hunter?"

"Nothing like that really… it is just when some thug or a group of thugs tries to rob or kill me that I can kill them without going to jail. That is all." Accelerator explained.

"Misaka does not know what to do when she got the License. Misaka will continue to follow brother for now, says Misaka as Misaka tries to think about a reason."

Suddenly they felt a murderous intent from one of the corridors. All of them looked into that direction, but nothing was there.

"Something wrong?" asked the old man as he came from the opposite direction. Damn geezer….

"Ah, Netero-san… Did you see anyone coming from that side?" Gon pointed into the direction were the killing intent came from seconds before. Naïve Gon, really naïve…

"No." The old man shook his head negatively, but the twinkling in his eyes betrayed him. Killua also looked seriously at him.

"You are pretty fast for an old man." stated Killua.

"That little trick? I barely moved." The old man chuckled lightly. The tension in the air between both of them raised another notch. Gon being the only naïve and honest ones of them realized nothing and looked around confused.

"What do you want? You do not have to do anything until the last phase, right?"

"No need to be so unkind. I got bored and was looking for some companions. By the way I meant to ask the four of you…" He showed his kind grandfatherly smile. "Any thoughts on your first attempt at the Hunter Examination?"

"Uh-huh! It is fun! And there have not been any of the written exams I was dreading." Gon answered immediately.

"Misaka is also happy for no written test since it is really boring, points Misaka out as Misaka looks happily."

"Tch. It is frigging boring. Nothing really happened so far. No death match or 'one versus one' or battle royal or anything like that." Accelerator snorted.

"It would have been more interesting for you if big brother did not cheat all the time, says Misaka as Misaka stomped her feet. It would be fun seeing brother trying to run even five kilometers if he even managed to get this far… Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" Accelerator chopped her on the top of the head continuously.

"I am also disappointed since I expected the exam to be far more difficult. I assume the next phase will be more entertaining?" Killua asked.

"Well, now… I would not know about that." The geezer said while looking at the far end of the corridor. Really suspicious. Did he think they were idiots?

"Oh really?" asked Accelerator sarcastically. All of them looked at the old man expectantly.

"Hmm… maybe… I have an idea! Would you care to play a game with me?"

"A game?" Gon asked.

"If you are able to defeat me, I shall let you be Hunters!" Accelerator was not sure if that was true. The geezer had to be sure that all of them would lose. Probably…

"Really? I will play!" Gon yelled enthusiastically. Naïve... naïve… naïve… naïve… naïve… Killua looked seriously back at the old man.

"How about it, eh?" He looked challenging down on them. They just nodded and followed him to a room with cushioned walls. The old man proceeded with taking of some of his clothes for better mobility. He bounced a little red ball on his index finger.

"Now, I will go over the rules of the game. If you can take this ball from me, before the airship reaches its destination, you win. I believe that we are scheduled for an 8 AM arrival?" Accelerator looked at his watch. It was eleven o'clock at night. "Well that still gives you nine hours. You are free to attack me however you'd like." The ball spun on his finger. "I will not touch you." So they could attack with everything they wanted and he could not attack back. Interesting. Accelerator sat down near the door and leaned against the wall. He would just look for now and if he was interested, he would try it once. Last Order decided to sit next to him.

"Huh? That is too easy. You cannot call that a game." Gon answered honestly. Really naïve if one knew who this old 'defenseless' person really was. The geezer bounced the ball on the tip of his index finger.

"Why not give it a try first?" Killua remained silent until now.

"We just have to take the ball?" Killua questioned.

"Yeah." There was once again that damn twinkle in his eyes.

"Then I will go first." Stated brat number two.

"Go ahead." Killua slowly went around the old man in a circle. After a while many Killuas –obviously afterimages - started to appear. That certainly was a nice trick.

"I see lots of Killuas!" Gon exclaimed surprised and with that brat number two started to attack. With kicks, punches, backflips he tried to reach the ball but to no avail. The old man was making fun of the children, successfully making Killua angrier and Gon more excited.

"What? That is it?" The old man balanced the ball on his forehead. In the end, Killua seemed to have decided to stop his movements through an attack on his right leg.

"Ouch… Right on his pivot leg!" Gon said while wincing, but the old man was still standing and Killua was the one jumping up and down in pain. That was the difference between Nen users and normal people.

"Killua! Tag! Tag! It is my turn!" Gon stretched hastily. Killua just nodded. "Okay!" Gon exclaimed loudly. He started to attack head first, but before he reached the old man, Gon jumped and hit his head on the ceiling comically. Accelerator snickered into his hand. The geezer looked for a moment surprised.

"Idiot!" Killua screamed from the sidelines, "We know that you can jump really high! Control your strength! For a moment the old man relaxed his guard!"

"I messed up there." Gon said while holding his forehead.

"Tag! Tag, yells Misaka excitedly as Misaka waves her hand around. Misaka wants to try too!"

"Okay!" Gon yelled back. "But after you I will try again!"

"Hohoho, normally I do not really like fighting little girls, but let's see what you can do. Ne?"

Misaka was slower than either of the boys, pathetically slow. Her strength was not really her body but the electricity she could produce and control. It was funny watching her trying to reach for the ball. She leaned against the old man who just held the ball over her head. He really underestimated her. Good. He wondered when she would try to shock him unconscious. After another five minutes she snapped, held onto the geezer's arm and sent an electrical burst from 5 million volt through his whole body.

The lights of the airship seemed to flicker a bit, but thankfully did not explode. She contained the electrical charge to his body only. Nicely done. The old man fell to the ground surprised and a little bit burnt and Last Order ran after the ball. He was clearly shocked and did not move until she showed him his ball. Misaka grinned happily.

She hold it into the air in her victory pose, "Misaka is the best says Misaka as Misaka looks at the others smugly." The old man on the ground chuckled lightly.

"Well, well, well… I was not awaiting such an attack. Not bad, little girl, really not bad. I have clearly underestimated you. So now I have to make you a Hunter, eh?"

Misaka shock her head negatively. "Nope, Misaka and big brother decided to become Hunters the normal way, but we have spoken things through. You now owe Misaka a big favor, okay, asks Misaka as Misaka looks seriously."

"Okay, but can I ask you what kind of Nen you used in your attack?"

"Misaka is a Transmuter says Misaka honestly as Misaka looks at him curiously. You are an Enhancer, are not you, asks Misaka as Misaka looks at him surely." They did not use Nen, but decided to just give them an explanation. The brat was a 'Transmuter' and he was a 'Specialist'. Nobody would question this. It was perfect.

"Hohoho! You are absolutely right! How about you, Accelerator?"

"No way I am telling you now, old bastard."

"Transmuter? Enhancer? What are you talking about?" asked Gon curiously. Killua also seemed to listen attentively.

"Something you will learn after you become a Hunter." said the old man, "So how about you two. Still up for the game?"

"Of course!" chirped Gon happily.

* * *

Two hours later and neither of the two brats managed to get the ball. Accelerator slept through most of it anyway since he was still a little bit tired from lazing around. Up until now he managed to cheat through the first two phases with bored ease. In Phase One he just stood on the borrowed skateboard and changed the vectors under its wheels continuously, then he flew for half an hour, got some breakfast and seven hours worth of sleep, killed a pig and let his little sister cook it. He slept some more and got a late lunch, explored the airship and found some entertainment for Last Order.

He looked up only to see the old man head-butt Killua. His little sister was lying beside him on the floor, sleeping a bit while her head rested on her backpack. Accelerator looked back at the battlefield. Killua was kneeling on the ground, holding his slightly swollen nose. It had to hurt.

"You boys are not getting anywhere. Why not attack simultaneously?" laughed the old man.

"Why you!" screamed Killua angrily while Gon yelled a happy, "Okay… I will get you this time!"

They continued to battle even through it was obvious even with both of them, that they would not be able to reach the ball. Even through they used surprise attacks – Gon using his shoes to increase his range – they were able to do nothing. Both of the brats were sweating buckets and one time even nearly managed to touch the ball but in a burst of speed and strength, the old man reached it first. It was rather unfair, two inexperienced brats against one of the strongest material artists of the world.

"You are amazing, Netero-san! Really amazing!" Gon exclaimed. Killua started to emit killing intent, but quickly hid it behind a mask of nonchalance and boredom.

"Forget it… I give up. I lose!" said Killua after a while.

"Huh?" Gon looked puzzled, "Why? We still have time and just now we came really close."

"Jeez. You really have no clue, do you? The old man has barely used his right hand and his left leg, but we are still powerless against him. We could chase him around for a year and never take the ball from him." Killua stated while waving his hand coolly.

"Oh, you figured it out? And here I thought I had fooled you." The old man chuckled.

"So that's what he was doing."

"Haha! You really know how to piss me off, old man." Killua already stood in the doorway. He looked at his watch. It was nearly three o'clock in the morning. A pillow and a blanket would be nice. He shook the brat awake.

"Last Order, let's go and find a better place to rest." She just nodded sleepily and the three of them started to leave the room.

"Let's go, Gon!" yelled Killua.

"Oh, I am gonna play a little longer." Answered Gon honestly.

"Huh? Did not you hear what I said?! It is useless. You won't be able to take the ball from him!"

"Yeah! I do not care about the ball. We have only used up half of the time limit. I am gonna make Netero-san use his right hand before the time runs out." Gon said seriously.

"I see…" Killua looked for a moment perplexed, "Yeah, I got it. Good luck. I am getting some sleep." The door closes behind them and they started to go into the direction of the rooms reserved for the participants of the Hunter Exam.

"You know, brat, even if you would have used all your strength against the old man, you would have lost." He could still feel the killing intent radiating from the boy. He was going to kill the next person who he would come across most likely. Sometimes Accelerator thought, they were just too alike.

"Huh?" He should bait the boy into a fight so that he would not go on a killing spree.

"He was the strongest Nen user in his prime and even now is one of the strongest hand-to-hand combatant in the world. You would not have been able to scratch him like you are now." Accelerator said.

"What do you know?" Killua snapped back angrily, the killing intent from before showing on his features.

"Quite a bit. Only because you come from a family of assassins does not mean that you are stronger than everyone else. You should be careful with your betters, boy." Now his old personality seemed to resurface. The boy scarily remained him at the him from the past and let him remember things he really did not want to remember. It was better the boy attacked him now before he maybe thought about letting his anger out on others, worst case on his little sister. If she came to harm, he would kill him in the most painful way possible.

Killua's eyes snapped open, his hand changed shape – it turned into something sharper - and he was attacking Accelerator. His shield protected him and reflected the force back, breaking the boy's arm in three places. Killua jumped back in surprise holding his injured arm to his chest, his anger completely forgotten.

"You should get that arm looked at brat. Since you used quite a bit of strength in your attack, it is worse than normal. There are so many things you do not know about." The killing intent from earlier disappeared entirely. Killua frowned at him.

"Is this about Enhancer and Transmuter and Nen?" he asked thoughtfully after a while.

"Oh, does not your arm hurt?" Accelerator raised one eyebrow.

"Of course, it hurts, but I have lived through worse from my family." Killua snapped his bones into place again. "I just need to take it easy with this arm until it heals. What about my question?"

"Yes, it has something to do with Nen. Many people are able to use Nen, their life force or aura, with training. Usually only Hunter's learn this, but there are ways around this. Everyone belongs primary to one of the six different aura types. Enhancer and Transmuter are two of them. Then there are Conjurer, Emitter, Manipulator and of course Specialization. Number 44, Hisoka, and the pincushion guy also feel like Nen users. You should be careful around them."

"Heh? That sounds really interesting. Do you know more?"

"Of course, but I will not tell you all of it now." And with that they left Killua standing in the corridor.

* * *

_**AN: So that's that. Next chapter will be Phase III finally. Why the hell are the chapters getting so long, that I do not know. **_


	7. Chapter 06 Phase III (Part 1)

**Chapter 06 – Phase III (Part 1)**

They left brat number two behind and went to where the other participants were resting. When they reached their supposed rooms, they saw the other applicants scattered around on the floor of the completely bare rooms like some primitive apes, how stupid. He had a better idea than sleeping on the hard and cold floor with stinking and sweaty people everywhere. That was rather gross and even his little sister looked at them disgusted. He certainly understood her.

They took some of the leftover blankets and pillows - there were still quite a few - and sat comfortably down on one of the many couches in the different corridors to nap a bit. Like hell he was going to sleep on the floor. The brat sat down beside him and used his arm and part of his shoulder as a pillow. It was uncomfortable, but for her he would somehow survive this. Accelerator covered both of them with two blankets and sat still trying to think a bit before falling asleep.

Until now everything seemed to go just fine. Life would be so much easier if they had a Hunter License. Hopefully he could cheat through the next phase too. Maybe there would be finally some action, some fighting involved. They had already been tested on stamina, willingness and creativeness, optimistically there would be some fighting involved in the next test, but well… he would see in a few hours… he should sleep a bit… probably… yeah, sleep…

When his little sister woke him a few hours later, for a short moment he did not realize where the hell he was until he remembered what happened the day before. He dot up from the blanket nest he build on the couch and stretched his arms and legs. Through the huge windows surrounding the couch fell the first light of the day, slightly blinding him. It was amazing he did not wake up sooner. The brightness was rather annoying to deal with. Accelerator looked at his watch to see how much time they had left. It was already half past seven and therefore half an hour before the next test would officially start.

He heard his sister's stomach grumble loudly besides him and frowned. They should probably eat some breakfast before they did anything. They left the blankets on the couch - someone would probably take care of them or not, it did not matter in the end - and went in the direction of the Dining Hall. He really wondered if brat number three somehow managed to get the ball sometime in the night, but could not think about any plausible answers right now. Maybe he was also with brat number two in the hall and then he could ask them.

After a while of walking through the corridors they reached the Dining Halls. They were nearly completely filled with the other participants who were already waiting for the next test or stuffing their faces with food. Accelerator glanced around the huge room, but could not see either of the brats. He saw somewhere in the back both the blond – Kurapika – and the frigging loud one –Leorio – but was not sure if he should sit with them.

The decision seemed easy for Last Order who ran to the buffet, filled her plate with various food and ran over to both of them. He sighed loudly and followed her at a normal pace. The three of them talked about small things – thank Aleister not the weather or bullshit like that – but about their opinions to the first two tests and what they think should come next and other senseless drivel.

Thankfully it was nothing important or in the long run interesting, that he liked at the moment. Yesterday he had talked already enough about himself and his past. After all he was not a talkative person. Sure he loved to taunt his opponents before and in the fights they already lost before they even began, but who would not. But he certainly was not a person who wanted pitying glances from others because of his cruel and somehow unique childhood. And it seemed like some of them had not so funny upbringings too.

Brat number three seemed to be generally happy. His father abandoned him with his relatives, because the boy was probably not important enough to him, and he did not know about his mother, but managed to live a happy life with his aunt and grandmother.

Brat number two was guided on the path of the assassin and killing for money since he was in his diapers. A family full of assassins… that was the first time he heard about something like that through, but after a while he seemed to have enough of this kind of lifestyle. A typical pre-teenager rebellion against his parents… Well, to be honest Accelerator could not imagine how a family of assassins was supposed to work. Did they even love their children? It seemed like Killua's mother was a little obsessive and a control freak and there was his father who married this control freak…

He did not seem to know much about the blond one who was sitting opposite of him. There was an aura of hate, anger and revenge around him, but Accelerator was not really sure. Kurapika seemed to be a rather calm and intelligent individual, someone who thinks things through before running into them or taking action. He certainly could work with this person.

The other he just could not stand. He was unnecessary loud, opinionated and as far as Accelerator saw rather stupid. He always commented on everything as if he knew better – which mostly was bullshit – he never really thought things through – stupid comments which even Last Order was able to disprove with ease – and was even more naive than brat number three – and that said something!

They continued sitting in the hall silently - he was silent; the brat was talking constantly - waiting for something to happen. The other wannabe hunters also began to get tense and anxious. The old bastard said that the next phase would start today at 8 o'clock, but it was already twenty after nine and still nothing had happened. They still were on the airship and even looking out of the windows did not help, since they were apparently surrounded by forest – by only forest.

Most of them cringed in surprise when they heard a voice cut through the relative silence, "I apologize for the long wait. The airship will soon arrive at its destination." This sounded like the frog-like something they met before Phase One and yesterday evening.

Last Order jumped from her chair enthusiastically and ran over to one of the many front windows. It was already incredible that she managed to stay still on her chair for the last hour even if her mouth was working nonstop. He also stood up and followed her. Now in the distance they could see on a tower-like mountain, on which stood another tower… or something like that. That was going to be interesting, since that tower seemed to be the location of Phase Three. In the end it looked far more fun than the other two, he could not wait to see what they had to do.

While the airship neared the top of the tower, Accelerator, Last Order and most of the other applicants walked towards the exit of the airship and waited there until it opened. After a while they saw once again the group of four together. Kurapika and Leorio must have met up with the two brats somewhere between the Dining Hall and the exit. Both looked happy like brats usually did. Killua's arm seemed to be normal aka straight even though he did not seem to use it and Gon seemed as awake and cheerful as before. He probably had a lot of fun playing ball with the old bastard and through the delay more than enough time to rest.

They felt the airship land and not two minutes later its grand door opened. All of them went out and looked curiously around. The platform was far bigger than he first had imagined. Were they going to fight to the death here or what? Why did such things always had to be so complicated?

"What is this place?" he heard someone unimportant mutter in the back. "There is nothing here."

"Ahem…" Everyone looked towards the frog-like creature, "Everyone, the exam's Third Phase will begin here at the top of Trick Tower."

"Trick Tower?" Leorio questioned.

"To pass this phase, you must reach the tower's base alive." Should they climb down or what? It was called Trick Tower; something was not right. Jumping down would be far too easy - if all of them were Accelerator - and had nothing to do with tricks. "The time limit is seventy-two hours. With that we will now begin the Third Phase. I will pray for your success."

"No way." said Leorio. Killua just shrugged. Everyone was looking around for any kind of clues. Froggy got back onto the airship and flew away, but they still heard a loud, "Best of luck to everyone!" from the frog-like being.

They walked towards the edge and looked down. It was rather high. He could survive this and if he would hold Last Order she would survive it without any problems too, but since not everyone was as awesome as he was, they had to be other ways to get down.

"Are we supposed to climb down?" asked Leorio as he hugged his suitcase tightly to his chest. Chicken.

"That would be suicide." said Kurapika honestly. For most people.

"Maybe for a normal person." They turned around and saw number 86 smugly and arrogant standing before them. Tch. That damn bastard was looking down on them. He walked past them and started climbing down. If that bastard wanted a race, he could have just asked. Accelerator could just jump down, change the vectors of the wind and land on the ground without any difficulties. He would surely win. "But a top-class rock climber can handle this, no problem." The arrogant bastard said while showing off his skills.

"Wow…" Killua said. He was not sure if it was meant seriously or sarcastically.

"He is going down pretty fast." Gon stated. Now that person was honest and really amazed by number 89 rock-climbing skills. Accelerator frowned. He had a feeling that this could not be everything. This was the so-called 'Trick' Tower, there had to be some kind of different tricks to get to the basis or something like that.

"Looks like I will be the first one to pass the Third Phase…" they heard the rock-climber say from a few meters below. A screech penetrated the air; they looked around confused. Suddenly they saw some magenta colored, four-meter high, baby shaped creatures with wings and a set of sharp teeth appearing behind a part of the tower. It seemed like this were his famous last words.

"Stop! Stay away!" Number 86 screamed hopelessly. "Stop! Stop it!" and with that one of them ate him. So climbing down was out of the game.

"G-guess we cannot climb down the side…" Leorio said while clutching his suitcase even tighter to his chest. So they had to somehow find an entrance into the tower on this platform. Could not be too difficult right?

"Yeah." Kurapika agreed, as they looked perplexed into the direction the four red to violet colored things flew. The two boys ran off to find the entrance inside the tower while Kurapika, Leorio, Accelerator and Last Order continued to stay in one place. He could wait, they were not in a hurry; in the end his little sister and he would jump down and wait there until the others arrived. That was the reason why he still was with them and was not enthusiastically searching like the others.

"What is up?" asked Leorio as he watched Kurapika look around.

"There are fewer people around." exclaimed Kurapika. Yep that was right.

"What?" yelled Leorio indignantly.

"I count thirty-three, which suggest almost half of the applicants already found an exit." Accelerator saw Tonpa, the three brothers and others standing around.

"No way. When did they do that?" Leorio asked. When you were not looking, obviously.

"That means there must be some hidden doors that lead below." Kurapika tried to explain. No shit Sherlock. He turned around to ask the brat if they finally could leave only to see that she was not there anymore. That damn brat! Where was she again? Furiously he looked around and saw her kneeling with the other two brats on the other side of the platform. They were looking at some stones. He stalked over to them - the other two were following him - and chopped her on her forehead.

"Ouch, exclaims Misaka as Misaka looks confused at her brother who was being unfair again. Misaka, Gon and Killua found something really interesting, a lot of hidden doors, explains Misaka as Misaka rubs her forehead carefully."

"Yep, look." Gon touched a part f a rock that moved slightly down before it snapped back up again.

"I see now. So we can descend by flipping the stones." Kurapika said.

"Okay!" Leorio said happily, "Great job, Gon! Let's head on down!"

"But I am confused." Gon said unsurely.

"About what?" Leorio frowned.

"There are also hidden doors here, there, over there and over there as well." Gon pointed the different directions of the doors out.

"That many?" Leorio asked.

"Five hidden door located in the same area. It sounds suspicious to me. Some could be traps." Kurapika responded.

"And it looks as though each door can only be used once…" Killua recalled

"Seriously?" Leorio just had to give his two cents to everything that was said.

"We tried opening a door else used, but it would not budge." The brats explained.

"Judging by the door's size, only one can fit at a time." Kura murmured.

"In other words only one person can use each door." Killua followed up.

"We will have to split up." Kura said.

"Gon and I decided that we are each going to choose a door." Killua stated.

"No hard feelings if one of us springs a trap!" Gon said still looking enthusiastically, "What are you guys gonna do?"

"Last Order, why don't you look if there is some kind of electrical trap behind one of the entrances?" He asked his little sister after listening to the brats' explanations. Everyone looked at him and the brat. If someone could only jump once into a hidden door there had to be some mechanical or electric lock that would automatically close when one person was through. She would be able to sense it with her esper powers.

Last Order nodded to him and went to each of the doors and touched their surface before moving to the next. She continued this until the fifth and looked up at them. "All five of them are hidden doors and connected to each other. It is eighty-seven percent possible that all five hidden doors lead to one room, says Misaka as Misaka tries to explain her findings."

"Great! So we do not have to split up after all!" Leorio yelled excitedly.

"I am not quite sure if we can trust her… It is nothing personal, but…" Kurapika searched for words.

"I trust her." Brat number three said honestly. Kurapika looked skeptical for a few more seconds before exhaling loudly and nodding his head positively.

"Wait." Killua said loudly, "One of us cannot go." And they realized that they were six people and only five hidden doors.

"It is no problem. Last Order and I already have a way down there." Accelerator explained.

"Ne, ne, ne, ne… big brother?" She sent her cutest puppy dog eyes at him, "Would it be possible for Misaka to go with them? Please, asked Misaka as Misaka tries to look as adorable as possible." Damn those puppy dog eyes! He did not like this. He really did not like this. He knew she was strong enough to hold her own, but accidents could happen. He also knew that she would like to spent more time with her new friends – the other brats – but he still felt uneasy, but in the end there was nothing he could do against her stubborn decision.

"Fine, you can go with them. You are also allowed to use everything you got if you are in danger. Okay?" The brat nodded. "And as for you." Accelerator turned to the four and let his killing intent flowing free. They flinched violently. "If something happens to my little sister, be it a bruise or a scratched knee, you will die horrible and painful deaths. Are we clear?" They nodded vigorously, still shaking from the killing intent. "Good." The killing intent disappeared. "I just wanted to make this clear. Have fun, Last Order." And with that he turned around and walked towards the edge.

* * *

Misaka landed normally on her feet like Killua, Gon and Blondie, while Suit jammed face first into the ground. It sounded rather painful, but Misaka just found it funny. He was so silly. Misaka chuckled as Suit's face turned redder and redder in anger, but Misaka just could not stop the giggles escaping her mouth.

They looked around and like always Misaka was right. Misaka said they were all connected and led to one room and Misaka was absolutely right, like always. Misaka looked around and spotted the monitor on which stood: _**"The five of you must follow the will of the majority to reach the goal." **_She skipped over there and took a look at the bracelets, which were lying just beneath it. Ahh… boring... They looked like watches… jut boring…

"Five of us?" asked Suit.

"Look… There are five stopwatches." Gon answered as he took one of them. Duh! Misaka thought everyone understood this.

"There is an O and an X button." Killua exclaimed as he looked at the watch. Huh? Misaka looked at the watch more closely. Killua was right. There was really an O and an X button. Five hidden doors leading into the same room, the majority rule, five people, five bracelets… this had to be…

"This is a team challenge, thinks Misaka loudly as Misaka rereads the instruction on the monitor." They looked at each other for a moment.

"Correct." They heard a male voice through a speaker say, "My name is Lippo. I am the prison warden here, as well as the Third Phase examiner." Oh, interesting! Really interesting!

"Prison warden?" Blondie asked unsurely. Misaka was also not sure what to say.

"Multiple routes through this tower have been prepared. You have chosen the path of the majority rule. Cooperation will be the key if you wish to clear this phase of the exam. One person's selfish behavior can derail an entire group… And you cannot start until you have five members. Best of luck, gentlemen and little girl!" How dare he call Misaka little girl! How rude!

"How unfair, exclaims Misaka as Misaka stomps around the room. Misaka wants to be called 'lady'." Misaka was ignored by all of them as they fastened their stopwatches around their wrists. As soon as every one of them was closed, a hidden door appeared behind a formerly believed stonewall.

"I see. So the door appears once five people arrive and put on the stopwatches." Blondie said.

On this monitor stood: _**"At this door, select O to open, X to not open."**_Easy as pie.

"Forcing us to use the majority rule already? The answer should be obvious…" Suit exclaimed. Misaka thought so too, but maybe this was just something like a test run for them to see how it worked. They all pressed O. Under the question was now shown: _**"O 5" **_and _**"X 0"**_. The door opened.

"Let's go!" Gon yelled happily while running into the next room with a blocked right and left way. They halted before the next monitor: _**"Which way do you want to go? O for right. X for left."**_ They looked to the right side and then to the left. They looked identical for now. Misaka had to think hard, either it was a trick and they should left or the examiner did not trick anything and they should go right. Difficult. She closed her eyes and chose a random button. _**"O 3" **_and _**"X 2"**_. The right door opened.

"Huh?! W-why would you choose to go right? Normally you should go left…" Suit stuttered indignantly.

"That is true. Studies have indicated that people who are lost or stuck at forks unconsciously tend to go left." Blondie explained his choice.

"I have heard that before too." Killua said.

"Wait! The numbers do not add up!" Suit looked at them furiously. "Which button did you press?"

"Right." said Blondie.

"Right." Killua answered.

"I do not know, Misaka blindly choose a button, answers Misaka honestly while Misaka tries to think of an explanation Suit would understand."

"My name is Leorio! Not suit!" Leo-Suit exclaimed angrily. "And why would you blindly press a button?"

"It is rather easy. Either we choose left because this is what people usually do and know and the examiners are aware of this and make more traps left than right or we choose right, because we know people usually tend to go left and the examiner laid more traps in the left, but the examiner is aware that we logically would go right and made the right path the harder one. It does not matter in which direction you look, each one of them could be the harder one, explains Misaka as Misaka looks seriously at them."

"I have not thought about this like that, but you are right. We will not know which way will be the better." Blondie nodded. Misaka puffed her chest in pride. Misaka knew she was good and intelligent, but hearing others saying it was even better. "In the end it probably does not matter if right or left. Let's go." They walked around the corner along some corridor until they arrived at another room. It was gigantic and had a high ceiling. Misaka could not see the end of it. A door stood directly opposite to them on the other side, but there was no floor, only a square platform right in the middle of the room.

"W-what is this place?" Suit stuttered. Misaka looked down; it seemed like there was an endless abyss. It would certainly hurt to fall down there. The platform was lit by four torches at each corner. At the other side of the room there was their supposed exit, but it seemed like they had to do something first.

"Look over there." Killua nodded towards their exit. There stood four or five different people in brown clothing. Nobody could see their faces and their hands were in iron shackles.

"The applicants have arrived. Remove the shackles." said the person nearest to them on the other side. The iron shackles from the first one fell to the ground. "Jeez…" The person took off the fabric hiding his face. "I am finally free." He was muscled, tall and bald and had scars on his baldhead. He looked at them with a creepy smile on his face. Suit swallowed hard, but Misaka was not afraid. Brother's death glare was far worse.

"Allow me to explain, gentlemen. Before you are some of Trick Tower's prisoner. The Hunter Exam Committee has also officially hired them as examiners. You will be fighting against the five of them. The fights will be one-on-one. Each person may only fight once. You are free to use any method you like. There will be no draws. A win is declared when the opponent admits defeat." explained the examiner – Lippo, weird name really – over the speakers.

"You may pick your order. It is majority rule. So secure three wins and you may pass." Baldy said while holding up three fingers. "The rules are simple." Yep, that sounded quite simple.

"Tsk… Majority rule again?" Suit tsked loudly.

"Well, I prefer straightforward rules." Killua replied honestly. Misaka thought so too.

"However the actual fights will not be quite so simple. The prisoner's sentence will be reduced by one year for every hour they delay the applicants here. In other words their goal is also to buy time." Weird-name-guy told them.

"I understand… and we must reach the goal within seventy-two hours. So time will be critical during these fights." Blondie rubbed his chin in thought.

"Okay, I am up first. Choose your combatant!" Baldy yelled from the other side. Misaka would really like to go since Misaka will just shock him to hell and back. It would be fun. Misaka was a sadist like brother. Together they were the S-Combo shortly for 'Ultimate Super Sadist Combo'.

"What should we do? He said that we could fight with any method. So that means anything goes." Killua asked. She waved her hands in the air before them but everyone seemed to ignore her. Hmpf, Misaka was also part of the conversation but they seemed to have forgotten her completely.

"We do not know what they will try to pull…" Suit mumbled. Misaka kicked his shin, but was still ignored after Suit exclaimed a little 'ouch'. Maybe shocking him would help.

"There is too much at stake without knowing what they have up their sleeves. Given that I shall…" Blondie began to say. Now Misaka had enough.

"Nope yells Misaka excitedly as Misaka decides to go first!" They were seriously ignoring her before.

"No, do not go! Your brother will kill us if something happens to you." Suit yelled looking utterly horrified, but he was not the only one.

"It is going to be okay, says Misaka as Misaka looks at him surely."

"You know what we can do?" asked Killua with a serious expression. Everyone looked at him. "Let's decide who goes first with rock-paper-scissors."

"Yes, that is a great idea! Do not you think so too, Misaka-chan?" Suit looked at her happily.

"Hmm… Why not, Misaka says as Misaka thinks about it."

"Great. You against Kurapika, right? I will be the announcer. Ready, Steady… Rock! Paper! Scissors!" Suit yelled as both of them showed their hands. Misaka pouted because Misaka choose scissors and Kurapika chose rock.

"So, I will…"

"Not so fast. This is the only halfway decent looking opponent as far as I can see. I want to fight him." Killua interrupted.

"Do not you think this is a little bit too much for you, kiddo?" Suit asked and Killua only looked at him with a similar look to brother's 'WTF' one.

"Just announce, idiot."

"Do not call me idiot! And fine, if you want to die just go ahead. Ready? Rock! Paper! Scissors!" Suit yelled angrily. Killua got paper while Blondie chose rock. Killua won.

"Alright. I see you soon." Killua went to the platform before anyone else could change their mind.

"So, they send a little kid to die here. Too bad for you. I will crush you. Now let us determine the method of combat. I propose a death match." said the prisoner with an aurar of superiority.

"So the loser is the one who dies?" Killua confirmed. Suit shouted his objections while Gon, Misaka and Blondie stayed silent.

"Hehehe, alright. Get ready to…" The prisoner's voice stopped abruptly as his chest began to turn red and Misaka could hear a 'boring' coming from Killua who held his opponent's still beating heart in his hands. Killua smirked at them as the prisoner's body fell to the floor lifelessly and put the ripped out heart onto the still figure.

The first round went to them. Now it stood one to zero. Killua seemed to be really strong and had nothing against killing others. He certainly was okay.

"W-w-who is he?" Suit stuttered unintelligently. He was such a spineless wimp. At least the others did not look afraid from Killua who began walking back to them as if nothing serious had just happened.

"That's right. You guys do not know." Gon spoke up suddenly. Misaka nodded enthusiastically along.

"Huh? Do not know what?" Suit asked stupidly.

"Killua comes from an elite family of assassins, explains Misaka as Misaka looks at him seriously."

"Eh? A-an elite family of assassins?" Suit stuttered again. Wimp… wimp… wimp… wimp… wimp…

"I am back." Killua said while Suit was still shaking a bit. "What?"

"Uh… Well, good work!" Suit answered mock-cheerfully while he continued shaking.

"Killua." Blondie said.

"Huh?"

"Can you tell me how that technique works?" asked Blondie. Misaka also wanted to know, but Misaka did not want to be too pushy.

"Technique?"

"The one you used to instantly remove his heart…" Blondie trailed off. Really interesting technique!

"Oh, that was not even a technique. I just ripped it out." Interesting! "But to make it easier," His fingernails turned into shard claws. "I manipulated my body a bit."

"Your n-nails…" Suit mumbled.

"Wow!" Gon yelled enthusiastically.

"Simple murderers like that are still only amateurs. I used to be a professional. But my old man would have it done better. When he removes a heart, you won't see even a drop of blood. "Killua said proudly.

"Hahaha… How reassuring…" Suit murmured baffled. Now they had to decide who went second…

* * *

**Omake: 'What if Last Order won both 'Rock-Paper-Scissors' games…'**

"N-no way in hell can we send her out to be slaughter by this… this brute!" Leorio pointed a shaking finger at the prisoner standing on the platform. Leorio was white as a sheet.

"You know what?" Everyone turned to look at Killua who just looked at the little girl seriously. "I trust her and her brother. She is not weak. Trust me. I have seen what she can do."

"Okay, then go." answered Kurapika after thinking for a few seconds. Last Order nodded happily before skipping cheerfully on the spot.

"What?! You cannot let her go. She could be killed or worse injured!" Leorio yelled still shaking in fear of her brother.

"Leorio, your priorities are flawed…" mumbled Kurapika.

"You have to trust me on this, okay? I know what I am saying." Killua explained and everyone besides Leorio – who had his arms around his knees and was rocking in the corner of the room - nodded positively.

"And I trust Killua's judgment." Gon answered honestly.

"Okay, then we push our buttons." said Kurapika.

Last Order skipped over the little bridge that appeared as soon as the three of five told her okay. After she reached the platform it disappeared again. Her opponent smirked smugly at them.

"Now let us determine the method of combat. I propose a death match." said the prisoner with an aurar of superiority.

"Oh no, she is going to die! Get her out of there! Get her out of there!" Leorio yelled panicked from the corner of the room still hugging his knees close.

"Accepted, says Misaka as Misaka thinks about the situation, but Misaka wants to make the first punch. Is this okay, asked Misaka as Misaka looks earnestly at Baldy." She asked.

"Haha! Very well! I commend you for your courage! My name is Bendot, girl, with a 199-year sentence for robbery and murder." He did not even get into stance. "Then come here and punch me, girl, so that I can finally kill you."

"He is going to kill her. He is going to kill her. He is going to kill her…" muttered Leorio like a mantra as he started to rock faster in his corner. Last Order still looked happily around and started to search for something in the little pockets of her dress. She held one coin in her hand and showed it to Bendot.

"What are you going to do with a coin?" asked Bendot while looking at her amused.

"Do you know what a Railgun is, asks Misaka as Misaka thinks about the pros and cons of using this particular move."

"No, not really. Some kind of party trick, girl?" Last Order just smiled joyfully, threw the coin into the air and flipped it towards Bendot at high speed. She sent him flying backwards against the other prisoners, killing him and three others. Only one remained alive but heavily injured.

"W-w-what the hell was that?" stuttered Leorio from the corner of the room.

"Railgun is also called Super Electromagnetic Cannon. By forming the parallel currents on either side of Misaka's hand, Misaka is able to fire a metal projectile at three times the speed of sound by utilizing the Lorentz force produced by the currents she created. Misaka's Railgun has a muzzle velocity of 1030 meter per second, explains Misaka as Misaka looks at them seriously."

"You should not be able to do that!" screamed Leorio.

"Why, asks Misaka as Misaka tries to see his reasons."

"B-b-but…" stuttered Leorio.

"Has this anything to do with being a Transmuter?" questioned Killua. She nodded.

"Ehhhh... What to do now?" asked Lippo over the speaker.

"Misaka won, states Misaka truthfully."

"And the others?" Lippo asked again.

"Casualties, says Misaka as Misaka thinks what her big brother would answer. It is not our fault if you cannot provide for more prisoner." There was silence for a few moments.

"So, did we win?" Gon asked nearly shyly.

"I will let you pass…" Lippo announced. "But please, try not to destroy more of my tower."

"Hurray!" They walked through the platform and the exit.

* * *

_**AN: Well, this was the first part of Phase III. I really thought that I would manage to write everything into just one chapter, but it was impossible. I still have to write what happened in the other games and what happened to Accelerator. So next chapter will be logically Phase III (Part 2). At first I wanted to go with Last Order kicking ass, but then I was told that it was important for Kurapika to show his eyes and Killua to show his strength, so I made Last Order kicking ass an Omake.**_

_**Thanks for all your reviews! They made me really happy. As for now I will continue to write this story.**_


	8. Chapter 07 Phase III (Part 2)

**Chapter 07 – Phase III (Part 2)**

They just left the dead body of the criminal lying on the platform aka battle ring. As soon as the shackles of the next prisoner opened, the convict uncovered his face and part of his body. He was a slim man, brown shoulder length hair, which was covering half of his face, and wore in this moment terrified expression. He did not seem to be an overly physical type of person, if his weak stature was any clue. He walked over the bridge and onto the platform carefully. He was shaking slightly as he looked at the corpse of his prison buddy. He really did not exactly look threatening at all, but he was a prisoner with at least a one hundred year sentence after all. They must have done something really bad to get here even if he looked as weak as her brother. Appearances could deceive as was seen by Accelerator, the strongest of all Level 5 Espers. He looked weak on the outside but could kick everyone's ass to hell and back if he so desired. Brother was just so awesome!

"So who's going next?" Killua asked from beside Misaka. Misaka would now go and electrocute this weakling on the stop!

"Me! I will go!" Gon raised his arm excitedly. He looked very confident, but it did not matter to Misaka at all. Misaka was going to!

"No, now is Misaka's time to shine, yells Misaka as Misaka tries to bring her point across!" They looked at Misaka surprised for a moment before Suit began to turn redder and redder.

"No way in hell, are we letting you go out there! Your brother would kill us, you know, K-I-L-L us all in the most horrible way he could find. So it really does not matter to us what you think, if you really want to pout and be angry at someone, be angry at your scary brother for threatening us!" Suit yelled angrily and Misaka's eyes began to water. No! Misaka would never be angry with brother, since he also told Misaka that when someone screamed at her, she should just tear up and cry. Then all would be good – they would feel bad for making Misaka cry – and brother would later kill them.

"Leorio, you insensitive jerk. Look you made a little girl cry!" Blondie said loudly as he started petting Misaka's hair comforting. He was really a nice guy. Maybe Misaka should call him also by his name.

"That was really not nice, Leorio. Her brother was just worried about her." Gon said reproachfully. He looked disappointed at Suit.

"How low can you sink?" asked Killua from the sideline. "And what do you think would her brother do to you if he knew you screamed at her and made her cry." Suit turned paler and paler. After a few moments he fell to his knees and said,

"I am really sorry, Misaka-san. Please forgive me, but I cannot allow you to go for at least another two or three other turns. Is this okay with you? If we lose now two times, you can be the deciding person and win the whole test… Is this okay?" Misaka thought about this. Misaka did not want to wait too long, but since Killua's match was really short maybe the others were too and then after some minutes she could finally show what she could do. Yep, that was a great plan.

"Okay, answers Misaka as Misaka stops crying." Misaka was after all only mock-crying to get attention and get an apology from the mean one. All four turned their backs towards her and started to murmur. To bad they did not realize she could also hear them.

"We must win the next two or at the latest three games so that she would not have to participate, okay?" Suit whispered to the others. They never wanted Misaka to shine!

"Okay." said both Kurapika and Gon, while Killua answered with, "Roger."

"Gon you go first, then will Kurapika and I will we be the last. There is no way I am letting her get injured. Her brother is far too scary…" Leorio mumbled. They really seemed to be afraid from her brother through. Misaka had to talk to him about not scaring her friends away! Now they did not let her compete because of his scary face and attitude! Once those stupid tests were finished, Misaka would go talk to him! Surely!

"Will be done!" Gon yelled as he crossed the little bridge and walked onto the platform. "What is your name?" he asked his opponent.

"Sedokan and you?" The man asked friendly.

"I am Gon!" he yelled happily in return.

"Now then… As you can see, I am not very strong." Sedokan said with a kindly expression while pointing his hand at himself. "I do not really enjoy fistfights or other physical activities such as running and jumping."

"I do." said Gon honestly. "But I am not too good at using my head." Misaka wanted to hit her face against the nearby stonewall. People usually were not so naïve to tell their enemies their ultimate weakness. Stupid Gon! Misaka would have been far better!

"As I thought. So I came up with a simple game we could both play." Possibly a trick, thought Misaka. The opponent was not physically strong, he could have some hidden talent or weak Nen abilities but she could not feel anything from him. He was pathetically weak. Brother was at least only physically 'weak'. So Gon's opponent had to be intelligent and maybe a trickster since he looked rather confident and had to be able to win against Gon. A scary combination against naïve, honest, little Gon.

"A game?" Gon asked curiously.

"Yes. It does not rely on either mental or physical activity."

"What kind of game?" Sedokan pulled out of the back of his trousers two white candles. Ewh… Just ewh! Where exactly and for how long have these candles been in there? Ewh! Bad Misaka with really bad thoughts! Hopefully Gon did not have to touch them… "We each light a candle at the same time. The one whose candle goes out first is the loser. What do you think?" Say, no!

"Yeah! That is easy to understand." Gon gave his opponent thumbs up. Ewh! He had to touch them too! On the other side Misaka was surprised how friendly Gon was with enemies who could kill him. Well, not exactly this one, but the one Killua killed in the first round.

"Okay. In that case…" Sedokan opened his hands and showed them that one was a long candle and the other was a short one. "…decide which candle you want to use. Press O for the long one or X for the short one. This will be determined by majority rule." Not that again!

"We have to choose one? This is a trap! Normally you would choose the long one, so he must have done something to the long one!" Suit yelled.

"That would be a safe assumption. But it might be a trick and he actually tampered with the short one." Kurapika said thoughtfully.

"It is the exact same like we have before with going right or left. You just do not know, so the only real solution to choose blindly or whatever you believe in, says Misaka as Misaka is strongly remained what happened before." Yep, the same as before. There could be nothing wrong with both of the candles - logical conclusion - the longer one would burn longer. The long one was tampered with and would burn faster than the short one. The short one could be tampered with and would burn even faster than the long one. There were just too many possibilities. Choosing blindly was the best idea. Kurapika seemed to realize this too.

"She is right. Gon you choose! We will abide by your decision! Choose the one you think is best." Kurapika yelled.

"No stress there, I will just sit down for now…" Sedokan said.

"I choose the long one!" Gon said. Misaka pressed her O button as did the others.

"Huh?" asked Sedokan confused.

"The long one." Gon answered once again before his opponent had the chance to do anything.

"Wha-wait a bit, this is all too fast." Sedokan fumbled with the candles behind his back.

"Just throw the long one here." A frown appeared on the other's face for a few seconds, before he threw the long one towards Gon.

"Why the sudden hurry?" asked Gon's opponent.

"Huh? They said I could decide and I did decide. It was easy. I wanted the longer candle because it would burn for a longer time!" Instant decision. Most of them sweat dropped, but Misaka found it okay. Everything or nothing could go wrong. Both torches on the same side of the platform went down a bit. Gon and his opponent lit their candles at the same time, so that no one could cheat. Then they went back to the middle of the platform.

"Normally, how long would it take that candle to burn down?" Killua asked.

"Around five to six hours?" answered Kurapika unsurely. No! So long? Misaka would be absolutely bored! There were no games here or anything and brother had his iPod with him, but he was not here at the moment. Five hours were far too long to wait! Misaka had to do something!

"That is far to long to wait. Gon, can you make it go faster, asks Misaka as Misaka stomps around the corridor like a caged lion. Misaka is already bored!"

"Ah, faster?" Gon thought for a few moments. A strong wind blew from the abyss. Gon's candle flickered.

"Aw… that was close." Gon said as he held his candle tighter.

"A strong wind is coming from below. That means we should watch our step… No time to relax, huh…" Suit said for once calmly. Both candles still burnt. It was so boring, but no, Misaka was not an impatient person.

"If you do not pay attention, your candle will go out." Sedokan told him.

"That is because you are planning to do something bad." Gon said honestly. "Otherwise your candle would go out first." That would be logical.

"I won't do anything, hehehe. After all… I have already taken steps." The flame on Gon's candle suddenly flared and began to melt the wax like crazy.

"Well, that is good. Right?" Gon said cheerfully. Misaka was not sure what was going on.

"Huh?"

"I was thinking about ending this faster, but it was a hopeless plan, but now I can do it!" Gon yelled.

"Huh?" was Sedokan's answer once again.

Gon put his candle onto the floor and said, "If the fire is stronger, then a little breeze won't extinguish it." Gon raced towards Sedokan and blew out his candle in the same second. He turned around to see his candle still burning.

"I win!" Gon was jumping around happily.

"Yes!" yelled Leorio, "Now we only need another win! Good job, Gon!" Misaka pouted, Misaka could have done this just as good!

Sedokan left the platform. They could hear the prisoners on the other side murmur something as the shackles on the next opponent opened and dropped loudly to the floor. Misaka could see blue skin. Ewh, gross! That one she did not want to fight. Who would have blue skin - green like Froggy was all right - but not blue!

"All right. I will go next." Kurapika walked confidently onto the platform. Once both of them stood in the middle, the blue armed something uncovered itself and Misaka felt pity swell inside of her. The creature looked horrible – horrible as in 'Brother was in a sadistic mood and drove over its head five times and went to the fridge to get something to put its face back together'. It was pitiable. The others thought so too.

"I am next! Hahaha!" It looked even weirder when it laughed. Its face was also a mess. One eye was swollen shut and the skin surrounding it violet, its nose was missing as were most of its teeth – there were only five left – it had two golden lip slash chin piercings, an ear that looked like a dog was using it as a chew toy, a bandaged head with moos green hair, some kind of grey egg helmet and some scars. Its left ear was covered with a weird cylinder shaped metal object and a blue and red wire leading somewhere.

"That is one freaky body…" Suit stated horrified.

"And face…" continued Killua. Misaka just nodded.

"Look here!" It pointed at the cute little pink hearts on the left side of his chest. "I have killed nineteen people, but it bugs me that nineteen is such an uneven number. I am so glad I have gotten to meet number twenty." It said with an expression that meant to be possibly horrifying. Kurapika looked calmly back while it laughed to its heart's content.

"Now we have a serial killer?" Suit asked. It did not feel like a serial killer at all… Misaka thought it felt harmless…

"I insist that we put our lives on the line. I won't accept some half-assed contest. Blood! Entrails! Agony! Hahaha!" Its laugh was getting more annoying each second. Hopefully Kurapika killed it soon, so that they could go back to brother. Misaka had thought that things would be interesting – they were but after the super boring candle contest, Misaka was bored again.

"Very well."

"Huh?" It looked dumbly towards Kurapika.

"You can decide how we settle this contest. I will agree to your choice."

"O-oh… You got balls." It clenched its fists. "In that case I also propose a death match, where we fight until one of us surrenders or dies. However do not expect me to stop when you surrender and beg for your life!" It pointed its blue index finger at Kurapika and there was this annoying laugh again.

"Very well. I accept." Kurapika tossed the orange, blue colored cape to the side. "Let us begin." he said confidently. It looked surprised.

"Hold on! I forgot to mention something." It held one arm out in a stop position. "No weapons allowed. We will beat each other to death with our fists. After all while I may be hired as an examiner, I am still a prisoner. I am not allowed to carry weapons."

"I see. I understand." Kurapika threw his wooden sword thingies to his funny colored cape. "Anything else? If not I would like to get started."

"Huh?" Standard stupid reply. After a while it started smirking again. It tensed its muscles, making them bulge a bit. Such unnecessary show of strength. Now Misaka was reminded of really primitive men. Brother often compared them to cavemen… 'Uh! Uh! Uh! Looky me muscle, me strong! Me being blue and super strange, but big muscles! Uh! Uh! More primitive cavemen sounds!' It was matching behavior!

"Hey, now. Is Kurapika going to be okay?" Suit asked. "That guy looks dangerous."

"You do not need to worry." Gon said.

"Why not?" asked Suit surprised while all of them looked at Gon.

"Because when I look at him, I do not get chills." Gon answered honestly. Killua smirked at him.

"What does that mean?" Suit asked.

"Misaka can also not feel anything special about this… this whatever it is, explains Misaka as Misaka tries to find out what it is." At least Misaka found something against her boredom! Finding out what it was! Some kind of blue colored alien? Or an experiment gone wrong?

"Time to show you the ace up my sleeve!" It jumped high into the air. "I will see you dead!"

"Here he comes!" yelled Suit. It tried to punch Kurapika who just dodged the simpleminded and straightforward attack. The ground around the impact zone began to crumble away.

"He made a hole in the floor with his bare fist!" Suit said shocked. What a wimp! The others did not look so surprised; they looked more likely bored. It turned its back at Kurapika. There was a large black spider tattoo on his right shoulder. Kurapika froze.

"A tattoo of a spider with twelve legs… Th-that is the symbol worn by members of the notorious band of evil thieves, the Phantom Troupe!" screamed Suit fearfully. Misaka thought about it. Somewhere Misaka had read about them with brother.

"Really?" asked Gon innocently.

"Yeah, definitely. They are famous. I heard about them straight from Kurapika." Leorio explained breathlessly. It turned around again. Blondie stood up from his kneeling position. Ah, Misaka remembered! The Phantom Troupe was the name for a gang of thieves, a A-Class Bounties organization. The group consisted of a total of thirteen members, each with a numbered tattoo of a spider on their body. Although they mainly stole and killed, they occasionally did philanthropic work. There was not much found about them, no faces, no abilities, nothing.

"What is wrong? Cat got your tongue? I am Majitani, one of the Phantom Troupe's four kings! Consider that first strike my way of saying hello. This is your last chance to surrender. I am still willing to…" It stopped halfway in the sentence and looked confused at Kurapika. Misaka did not know what was going on. "Wh-what is wrong with you? Huh?" Kurapika disappeared, reappeared before it, took its yaw into his hand and punched it into the ground after it tried to surrender. Killua whistled after seeing that punch while Gon and Leorio just looked surprised.

"Consider this a warning…" They could hear Kurapika mumble, "First, a real Phantom Troupe tattoo has the member's number on the spider. Second, they do not bother counting how many they have killed. Third, never mention the Troupe again. If you do, I will kill you." Woah! Amazing!

"Kurapika…" Suit mumbled.

"Well, saw that coming from a mile away." Killua said.

"Yup…" Gon agreed. The bridge appeared again, Blondie put his clothes back on and went back to them. And then Misaka noticed. Kurapika had really beautiful red eyes, but sadly they turned back to his normal grey ones when he arrived at their little platform.

"You okay, Kurapika?" Suit asked.

"Yeah, I am not injured."

"Also, is it safe for us to be near you?"

"From the moment I saw him, I knew he was weak. And mentally I knew the tattoo was a fake. But as soon as I saw the spider, everything in my sight turned red…"

"Well, I cannot really blame you."

"Actually to tell the truth… Even when I see a real spider, my personality changes and I enter a frenzy." They looked comically shocked at Kurapika. It was no problem through. If Misaka was near, Misaka would just shock him awake, but before that Misaka would take a few pictures of those beautiful eyes.

"You should have told us sooner…" Suit said.

"But this means that the rage in me remains as strong as ever. I suppose I should be happy." Kurapika leaned against the wall and looked down on the floor, his blond hair hiding his face for now.

"We should keep Kurapika away from spiders." Gon murmured too loud to Suit who answered with a "Definitely."

"Why have not we won already, asks Misaka was Misaka looks around."

"Well, little girl, it was a death match. The fight does not end until one contestant surrenders or dies. He is still alive and he has not surrendered." Misaka heard a female voice say from the other side of the room. Misaka frowned; they had already won. What was their problem?

"Now that is not true, yells Misaka as Misaka gets angrier. It surrendered right before Kurapika nearly punched its face in."

"My, my… You must have heard wrong."

"Okay, if Misaka is wrong, can Misaka at least see if the ugly thing is still alive? I will not need to enter the platform, says Misaka as Misaka thinks about her perfect plan. Is this okay?"

"Hahaha, go ahead girl and do whatever you want to do from there." Misaka just nodded happily while pulling some rusty nails from her backpack. "Huh? What do you…" Misaka shoot the rusty nails into its arms and legs. It gave an undignified squeak and tried to crawl away.

"You did say, you surrendered right, asks Misaka as Misaka takes another few nails from her backpack."

"Yes! Yes! Yes! I did surrender! Just don't shoot more of these nails at me!" It said loudly and over them, the monitor showed now three wins.

"We won! Great!" yelled Suit happily. The prisoners vanished from the exit and now they could walk over both bridges towards the exit.

* * *

He watched as all five of them vanished through the hidden doors. He was unsure if it really was a good idea to let his little sister go with them. He knew she was a strong Esper, but if someone managed to surprise her with a physical attack, she would likely be injured. Even through she used her damn puppy dog eyes on him, he was still uncomfortable with the idea. Maybe he should have found a way to go with her... and by extension them.

At least were the other two kids with her. Killua was possibly the strongest out of the four and the most ruthless. All members of his family were assassins, so he was an assassin and that meant he had already killed people regardless of birth, age or appearance for something as unimportant as money. If things turned worse, he would be the one with the highest survival chance.

Gon was physical strong, but far to honest and naïve. He looked like the type of person who would never kill anyone. If things turned worse, before killing his opponent, he would get himself killed.

He did not know anything about the blond and the other through, but hopefully they were not too bad. The blond one seemed to have a huge grudge against someone, but he would only kill that person and no others. Honestly the loud one just seemed to stupid to kill anyone.

He looked around the platform. Now only fifteen people remained on top of the tower. He should make an exit too. He walked over to the edge and jumped of. He changed the vectors of the air surrounding him and landed comfortable on his feet. Now he had to find the entrance into the tower and bust the door open. It was as easy as that.

He walked around the tower until he heard a hissing sound behind him. A door seemed to have opened seemly out of nowhere. He shrugged his shoulders; he would not look a gift horse in the mouth. He walked inside, his hands still inside the pockets of his cloak. The automatic door behind him closed with another hiss and he stood alone in a circular room with many different doors and four torches. It looked rather boring and uncomfortable. He did not want to wait for seventy-two hours here. He was not one of the barbarians.

"Well, well, well… You seem to be the first to arrive here. I have already heard that you somehow managed to cheat through the first two phases with ease, but that will end now. I have a special surprise for you." One of the doors opened revealing three muscular people. "These are prisoners of the Trick Tower. For each of them you can choose a game of your choosing and must win to pass Phase Three. They are allowed to kill you if they so desired. I will release their shackles and then the game will begin." The voice from the speaker said.

Accelerator sized each of them up, a smirk forming on his face as he tried to picture the challenge. Now while his powers were useful, they made things boring during a challenge. At least they looked a bit challenging; hopefully it would be enough to amuse him for a while. He had still more than seventy hours to go until this Phase ended and the next maybe more interesting began.

The shackles hit the floor in a loud thud. "Now, now… since we are finally free, I have an idea which game," the prisoner in the middle smirked at him sadistic, "we should play with our little guest, right guys?" They all laughed dirty. So it had to be an all-out fight, thought Accelerator also smirking back at them, his eyes ablaze with amusement. Let's see how far they would get. The prisoners took the cloth covering their head and faces off and he finally got a good look at them.

The three prisoners were over two meters tall and with his own not so amazing height – Accelerator was just a bit taller than 1,7 meters – they seemed to literally tower over him. They were muscled with numerous scars and one even had only one eye left. Hahaha, he could not wait to cut them apart in a death match and-

"Twister!" shouted all three of the criminals at once. Following that loud statement, a pregnant pause followed that took place during which Accelerator was sputtering and the criminals were wearing a devious smirk. No, no, no… they seriously could not mean what he thought it was. This was impossible. It could not be the same game his little sister urged him to play back in Academy City. They were in a different world now, so twister had to be something else, right? Right? After finally regaining his bearings, Accelerator felt that the statement needed to be clarified.

"Mind repeating that?" He certainly hoped it was not that damned children's game, he always lost back home. What did it matter that Last Order always managed to win against him in it. He was not really flexible, he knew, and had absolutely no patience for it. But maybe he was thinking too much; after all it could have been… Accelerators mind went blank at the sight of numerous red, yellow, blue and green dots lining the room… or this could be the exact same game that exists in his world...

The eye patch-wearing criminal stepped forward and began to go into a long-winded explanation of the history of this apparent ancient game and its rules. Honestly Accelerator tuned him out after a few seconds. He just couldn't get the fact that this game existed here. Sure there were a few things similar to his home world, but to have something so specific and out there exist was just new to him. Zoning back in, he heard the man finish up the rules of the game and begin to stretch.

Are they dumbasses, or what? Did not they see the crutch he had in one hand? He had already healed and could walk just fine without it, but seriously, were they really trying to get a 'cripple' to play twister?

As the three men formed a line, the eye patch wearing man motioned to his two compatriots. "Pick which one you want to go against first. However I doubt you will be able to get past one of us, little lady!" His anger flared. He knew, he looked somewhat feminine, but to throw it into his face like that was just unforgivable. Damned those bastards!

"Are you idiots or what? Cannot you see my crutch, you imbecilic? What does a crutch usually say about the person using it?" he asked the dimwits.

"Are you trying to say, you cannot play twister?" Accelerator nodded as the tick mark on the middle prisoner started to twitch dangerous and his grin started to widen. "Well, there is only one alternative, lady. If you do not want to play twister with us then we play battle royal. How about it?" This could not have ended any better. They were probably trying to scare him, since battle royal meant everyone against everyone and since those three seemed to be prison buddies, they would gang up on him and 'defeat' him. The only flaw in their logic was that there was no defeating Accelerator. Too bad for them.

"Fine by me." Accelerator just said in answer. "A match to the death. You three against me." Accelerator started to smirk.

"You asked for it, lady! We will have so much fun with yo-" Last words indeed. Accelerator's grin turned maniacal as he proceeded to cut them apart. It was just so easy. They could not even touch him.

After a while of playing with them, he was so nice to give them the finishing blow ending their lives. It was a lot more boring than he thought it would be. He looked at his watch, nearly sixty-nine hours to go.

He proceeded to look around the room, except the four torches the room was completely bare and that just would not do. He made a deal with the official head examiner of this tower. He would get a couch to sleep on and something normal to eat if he told him what he did to the prisoners. His answer was met with silence.

"Do you know how it looks like when the direction of the blood flow is reversed?"

After some time – approximately two or three hours – one of the many doors opened. So the clown was the first one here. He had a bleeding cut on his shoulder and of the side of his stomach, but seemed nonetheless rather fine. He still had the same creepy smile. And people back in Academy City said Accelerator was strange… He looked around with a curious gleam in his yellow eyes. Accelerator continued sitting on his couch eating his fair earned chips.

"Hisoka, applicant number 44, is the second to pass the Third Phase. Total time, six hours and seventeen minutes." The voice from the speaker said.

"My, my, you seem to be a rather interesting person, I must say~ Oh so interesting~" said the ecstatic looking clown, Hisoka his mind supplied. It was not surprising that he got to the goal first after him of course. He and the pincushion guy were both clearly stronger than the rest of the people participating in the Hunter Exam, well, except of Accelerator and Last Order, but she went with one and a half weaklings - Killua was no weakling and Gon was only a half one - so it would be logical that she would not return first, second or after… He really hoped she would return, if not he would send all of the participants and examiners in this tower straight to hell.

"Tch. If you think so..." Accelerator murmured slightly embarrassed. What the hell should he have answered? Was this even a compliment? Yes, he thought, it was okay to be embarrassed… a little bit…

"Throughout the whole Hunter Exam I observed the different people and gauged their strengths and weaknesses. I looked for someone worth my time, something like a hidden diamond in the mud and I found some rather attention-grabbing ones~ I cannot really wait~" Hisoka said as a creepy smile – worse than the one of the bastard Kihara, but not by much – appeared on his face.

"Aha, fascination story..." Totally not! Why the hell was he even holding a conversation with this person in the first place? Of course it was boring, sitting here all day by himself, but he liked his peace more than talking to creepy ass people.

"When I see someone I analyze said person and something like a number appears besides them, telling me if the person is strong or has the potential to become strong. It is rather remarkable. The maximal number would be hundred and the lowest would be zero, but with you and your sister - right? – with you to it is different. I look at you and see either absolute nothing. Hahaha~ Normally you should only be as strong as an ordinary civilian, nothing more. But no, you are obviously different. There you are sitting in a room with the bodies of three death row prisoners without a care in the world. Blood is everywhere, except on you. Your clothes are still amazingly white~ You did not seem to have used anything against them, but they are still dead. I would really like to know how you did this~ It certainly would be interesting. Care to tell me some of it~" Hisoka explained to him while smiling. Would he have a mirror with him, his expression would be 'what the hell?' and the clown clearly wanted some answer to his question.

"And what do you think?" Accelerator asked.

"I was thinking about Nen, but it does not change the fact that I can neither read your or your sister's level of strength, which is rather annoying. I may be a magician, but I do not like mysteries that much. Either you are just so strong that I cannot measure it - which I find impossible - or you have something cloaking your aura. Ahaha, I am really not sure~ Maybe I could find out more if I fight against you~" The creep wanted to fight. Was he even allowed to kill other participants in this Phase? Or did he have to wait? He should really protect his sister from people like that…

"Tch. It would be a waste of time..." Accelerator answered with a shrug. Yes, in the end most hand-to-hand combat was useless since he would just reflect it back. They all were no match for him.

"Oh~ And why is that? Too scared of me? Or too scared that I find out your special ability~" Why was he always meeting creepy people? Did anybody have a clue or was it simply bad luck?

"No, not that. It is just that there is just one person who could really fight with me one-on-one and defeat me, but he is not here. All others just lose. There are no exceptions." Accelerator told him seriously.

"Hahaha, how interesting you are~ I will wait for now and do nothing, just observe you and your sister. Maybe then we could fight some time~?" Such a creep, and that was coming from him.

"Maybe..." He just answered and continued to each his chips.

* * *

Misaka and co went ahead and through the many different corridors, solving different puzzles and trying to not fall into a trap, but after defeating three prisoners this was only child's play. When they finally reached the supposed last door Misaka had already enough from this whole tower. Now she just wanted to get back to her brother and play around with him. She did not want to be tested again.

The monitor above the last doors stated something like: 'Easy way in three minutes with only three participants or long was with forty-five hours with all five participants.'

Misaka looked around and in the end found all four of them interesting. She did not want to lose anyone of them. She had finally some friends, so she hacked through the electrical lock and opened the door for the short way. She spent the next three minutes laughing madly as they slid down the rather long slide until they reached a stonewall slash door, which opened once they neared it.

It opened slowly and revealed a room painted in blood. Ah, Misaka thought, brother must have been here already. She looked around and saw him, the clown, the bald ninja, the pincushion guy and the mouse eared huntsman playing cards in one of the clean looking corners of the room.

"Last Order, applicant number 406, is the sixth to pass. Killua, applicant number 99, is the seventh to pass. Kurapika, applicant number 404, is the eighth to pass. Gon, applicant number 405, is the ninth to pass. Leorio, applicant number 403, is the tenth to pass. Total time, thirteen hours forty-seven minutes."

"Brother!" Misaka squealed as she ran towards Accelerator - completely ignoring the bodies of the prisoners on the floor - and gave him a hug. He patted her head kindly and looked proudly at her.

"I thought you would only return much later. But it is good to see you okay. Did something happen?" Suit began to pale besides her.

"No, nothing. Actually it was rather boring. We had to…" Misaka began.

* * *

Sometime in between her explanation about all the things she went through in the last thirteen hours, Accelerator just turned her out. He really did not need to know every detail of her story and sometime in between even nicked off for an undisclosed period of time. He was sitting with her on the couch, he fairly stole, after finishing the last card game with the group of weirdoes. Hisoka sat not far from their side while Gon, Killua, Kurapika and Leorio talked on the other side of the couch. Over twenty-five hours had already passed and it was just so boring. He wanted to go outside a bit. He discussed this over the last two hours with his other much lazier side until his bored and stubborn side - I want to see the sun right now - won.

He got up from the couch and walked over to the one door he used to get inside. He held his hand against it and used vector change to make the wall crumble. Sunlight streamed through the hole, he made in the wall. He walked outside and enjoyed the warmth of the sun, the sounds of the birds and the wind and decided that he would continue to stay outside until it got dark. He sat down beneath a tree and wanted to continue to nap a little bit, only to be shaken by an energetic Misaka, Gon and Killua.

"Woah! That was amazing" Gon said enthusiastically. "Was this Nen?" he asked and Accelerator just nodded. Kurapika and Leorio also went over to their little group and other participants left the tower for a bit.

"Can you now tell us more about Nen?" asked Killua curiously as their group of five just sat outside of the tower, enjoying the sun. He thought about the pros and cons, but in the end it was so unimportant. Either they would learn about Nen on their own or from close family like in Killua's case - some of his assassin family had to know about this - or maybe meet a Hunter who would explain it to them… it did not matter. Usually it was said that only people who are already Hunters should learn about the secrets of Nen, but the clown figure and the pincushion guy were far far stronger than most of the other participants and therefore clearly aware and trained in the use of Nen, and both of them were not Hunters at the moment.

"Then tell me first what you know and think about it." He would not explain it to them if they did not listened to him the time before since it would be a waste of time. All of them – except Last Order – looked thoughtful.

"Well, Nen seems to be something like superpowers. It has something to do with our life force or aura. There are six different categories: Enhancer, Emitter, Conjurer, Transmuter, Manipulator and Specialist. Am I right so far?" Killua said after a while.

"Killua… When did you learn something like that?" asked Kurapika intriguingly.

"When and after we played the ball game with the old geezer." Killua explained.

"Netero-san?" Both brats nodded.

"Yup. I did not know that there was more than simple fighting. It is so amazing! So can you now tell us more about this?" Gon asked happily.

"I know some things but not everything since we have learned this through different means but I once asked an Hunter and he graciously told me everything he knew about this particularly subject…" They looked at him with wide eyes as if he killed and tortured said Hunter for the information, which he did, but that was beside the point here.

"You must think of this like it is a circle." Accelerator drew a circle with six points in the mud. "When you start from the top and go in clockwise direction…" He pointed with the stick at the top of the circle.

"Enhancers are able to strengthen various objects' effectiveness like for example their fists for punching through stone or iron walls or enhance their speed so that normal people would not be able to see them. Isaac Netero is an enhancer and was the strongest Nen user in his prime. It is said that his punch is so fast even talented Hunters were not be able to see it." They all looked impressed by the information about both the Enhancers and the old bastard they saw just yesterday. His stick went to the next point, the top right one.

"Transmuter can use their aura to alter objects' qualities like you have seen my little sister do. She can change her aura into electricity and can use it to simple electrocute someone and break electric locks etc. Other possibilities would be for someone to change their aura into fire - this person's touch would then burn everything - or maybe water or things like that." He moved to the bottom right one.

"Conjurers are somewhat akin to Transmuters and able to manifest their aura. They can for example conjure swords or spears or pistols or whatever the hell they want. Do you somehow understand the difference between them? One of them mimics the properties of the substance and with Conjurers they turn into a physical, material object. Understood?" They all nodded. Even Gon. He moved the stick to the bottom left one.

"We shortly skip the Specialists and go to the Manipulators. They can use their auras to control objects, substances, creatures and if powerful enough even humans. Of course they must first touch the object or person with their aura to control it, which is also why it is not really easy." Now he moved the stick to the top left one.

"Emitters can propel their aura like projectiles. They are capable of controlling the aura when it separated from the body. I really do not know much about them through." Now he pointed at the very bottom of the circle.

"And the Specialists are those with rare abilities that do not fit in the other five classes. Their abilities are usually seen as rare and rather unique. So that was it for the six different aura categories." And with that he ended his explanation.

"Woah! There are so many! I wonder what I am! Hopefully something cool." yelled brat number three excitedly.

"So what are you?" Killua asked with an interested tone.

"Tch. What do you think, brat? I will only answer once – yes or no – so think before you ask." He would not make it easy for them. Even if they found out that he was a 'Specialist', they still would not know his ability so it was fine. Killua turned around to the others and started talking to them.

"When I attacked you after the game with the old geezer, a shield protected you."

"Y-you attacked him?" Leorio asked shocked.

"That is not the important part right now!" Killua yelled. Kurapika was already thinking.

"So a shield… This was also how the pig died, right? So Enhancers are out. You could have transmuted your aura into something that protected you. The same would go for a conjured shield. I really was not looking that clearly between yourself and the pig. Maybe we just did not see it. I do not think Manipulator or Emitter. So the best looking one is also a Transmuter like your sister." Kurapika explained his thesis.

"He could also be a Specialist." chirped Gon happily. Tch, the most naïve of them was absolutely right.

"So, what do you think?" Leorio asked the others.

"We still need a bit of time to watch you until we state our final answer." Kurapika answered in a calm voice. Not so bad idea, he did not say they had to ask him anytime soon.

"Why not…" Accelerator shrugged his shoulders.

"How do people know what type of aura they have?" Kurapika asked interested.

"The most popular and most precise method is water divination. You have a glass filled with water and a leaf on the water's surface between your hands and channel your aura into it. Different things could happen then. If you are an Enhancer, the volume of the water changes. For Transmuters the taste changes. Emitters change the color of the water. If the leaf on top the water moves, you are a Manipulator. When impurities appear in the water, it means you are a Conjurer and if a completely different change appears, the person is a Specialist." Accelerator explained.

"Woah! Nice! But how do we do this aura thing?" Gon yelled enthusiastically.

"You know~ Water divination is not the only way of finding out~ I also have a good grasp on who could be what~ and it is so easy~ a method similar to the blood type personality test, so to say my own way of using personality to classify aura~ It can seem a bit unreliable but normally I am right~" they heard a voice mutter sickly sweet behind them. They turned around and looked at number 44 who probably overheard the whole conversation.

"Huh?! Why should we trust you, you maniac?" Leorio yelled pointing his finger at the clown.

"My, my, my~ you seem to be an Emitter. They are usually impatient, not really detail-oriented, quick-tempered and hot-blooded. They usually calm down soon after and are people who forget more easily. Of course I have no prove for my claims right now, but if you find out just tell me if I was wrong or right… Right~" Now it would be really interesting to see, if Hisoka really was right. Maybe he would be able to tell in which category Accelerator was.

"And what would I be?" asked Gon enthusiastically.

"Now I would say Enhancer~ Most of the Enhancers are determined, simpleminded, straightforward, earnest and the sort of person who do not hide their emotions and let most of their actions being dominated by their feelings. It suits you rather well. Don't you think so too, Gon-kun~" Hisoka said with a wicked smile on his face. He absolutely nailed it.

"And what are you?" questioned Killua suspiciously.

"Of course I am a Transmuter like her." The clown pointed at his little sister. "Transmuters are fickle, dishonest and whimsical liars. We usually have unique attitudes, and therefore others regard us as weirdos or even cheaters. We rarely reveal our true intentions after all~" It fit really.

"It seems to fit him, but Last Order is well… sorry to say, a little weird, but overall a nice person."

"It suits me far more than her, I think, but you will never know how much she hides in her pretty little head. I also would think that number 99 is also a Transmuter. I just have some kind of feeling about this."

"And what about me?" Kurapika narrowed his eyes.

"You look to me like a Conjurer. They are typically high-strung, cautious, and observant and rarely fall into any traps. They think before they act. I also think that being able to analyze things calmly helps them in their materialization. It is rather matching right? And then we have the Manipulators. They are argumentative and logical people who tend to advance at their own pace. Do you have enough~" Hisoka asked with an eye smile.

"And what about him?" Killua pointed at Accelerator.

"My, my~ He is special as in Specialist, I would say. They are individualistic, independent and charismatic. They normally refrain from being close friends to anyone, but because of their natural charisma other people are generally drawn to them. It probably is also the mystery of their Nen type. The powers of a Specialist could be anything after all~ Right, Mister Accelerator?" Yep, he nailed it. No point in denying it.

"It this true?" Gon asked. Everyone looked at Accelerator.

"Tch. You are right. I am a Specialist." answered Accelerator.

"You see, I am quite good at judging someone's personality~" He hated to admit it, but the clown was right.

* * *

_**AN: Now that was the second part of Phase III with some Hisoka moments. He already seemed interested in Gon back then and would do anything to make him stronger, so I let him help out in finding their aura types. It certainly seemed to fit.**_

_**You know, I found the numbers Killua and Hisoka got really funny. I read somewhere that '4' sounded in either Japanese/Chinese/Korean language (I do not remember in which) like the word 'die' and '9' like 'suffering'. Hahaha, I find this really funny…**_

_**Big thanks go once again to reven228 for helping me out with some ideas and a dialogue! Without you I would not have finished it so soon! Have fun reading it!**_


	9. Chapter 08 Phase IV (Part 1)

**Chapter 07 – Phase IV (Part 1)**

As they waited for the rather long - boring, annoying, unexciting, irritating as hell - Third Phase to end, Accelerator talked a bit more about the different aura types and the way to find out in which category they all belonged to. He told them everything he managed to find out about this particular theme from the one poor Hunter, who decided to attack him back then on their way towards Zaban City, which ended not as good for the attacked and left Last Order and Accelerator with much interesting information after coaxing him to talk – with the help of a bit torture. He did not do much, just breaking a few bones and the elite of the elite talked nonstop.

Of course, he had not told Last Order's little group of friends everything they found out and also kept quiet about the things both he and his little sister could actually do. There was much more to know about Nen than only its different categories, but they did not know. Maybe they could talk sometimes later more about the other themes or he could use it to blackmail one of them.

They continued to spend their time either inside the tower at night or during the day outside talking about everything and nothing at all. Three days was a rather long time after all, without having anything to do. Kurapika even retold the story about his now exterminated clan, the Kurta, and about the Phantom Troupe and Leorio about his sick friend, who died simply because they did not have enough money for the treatment. Misaka told them in return about a few things of Academy City and the people she met there, etcetera. Somewhere hallway through he took a nap only to wake up and see that she had talked the whole time he slept and was still going on.

Throughout the day Gon, Killua and Misaka also often ended up running around for hours to no end, playing tag and hide and seek on the round platform like mountain, trying to do skateboard tricks and learning how to use a fishing rod and even fought against those magenta colored six-legged creatures with wings. These world seriously had some really strange animals.

The couch still belonged to Accelerator since whoever dared to sit on it - with the exception of his lovely little sister, even her new friends were not allowed - managed to get a broken arm for free from a pissed Accelerator. It was the only hallway decent and soft thing to sit and sleep on for the last three days; there was not way in hell he would give it to someone else.

Thank god, the dispute over the couch was fast handled. It was as easy as that and after the first one got the bone in his arm shattered into many little pieces and was rolling on the floor screaming in pain, they deiced to just glare at both him and Last Order but did not do anything else, so that there really were no further problems. No one dared go near his couch again.

Time passed and more and more different Hunter wannabes appeared from the doors of the circular room, seating themselves around the room and also began to wait for the remaining hours to pass. It was boring, it was annoying, there was nothing to do and nothing good to eat.

At least, Accelerator thought, he and Last Order had some chips to eat, far better than the little bit of water and some cookie like biscuits they got from the people guarding the tower. In their desperation they also tried eating those magenta creatures, they killed, but they tasted just awful. The biscuits were clearly better, but Accelerator could not wait to finally eat a decent meal and sleep in a normal bed again.

They waited and waited and waited and finally, after many hours of sitting around uselessly, the zeppelin, which brought them from Second to Third Phase, landed on the mountain right before the tower. Five minutes until the Third Phase was finally over.

The sun was shining and a comfortable wind blowing. Accelerator looked from the whole he had made in the wall at the other participants who were waiting in the room, thinking about how few managed to get down to the base, only twenty-nine. They were the normal ones; Killua, Kurapika, Gon, Leorio, the creepy magician, the mouse-eared huntsman, the bald ninja, the living pincushion, the weak-looking archer, the lancer, the saber with grey hair and hook-nose, a woman with turquoise hair and a balloon-like yellow hat, a normal looking guy with short black hair, a red-haired woman with sunglasses and gun, a boring guy with long black hair, the ape-man, the guy with the red nose, the three brothers, the snake man, the old kung-fu master, a muscular man with short blond hair and a weak looking teenager, some other equally unimportant ones and at last of course Accelerator and Last Order.

They heard a loud 'ping' throughout the room and turned their attention towards the speaker hanging on the wall. From Last Order he was informed that the person speaking through it was a Blacklist Hunter and examiner named Lippo.

"The Third Phase of the exam is over. Twenty-nine applicants have passed. Please board the airship. It will bring you to your next destination." Accelerator stood up from the couch and stretched his aching body. Not doing anything all day also was not good for his body. All participants left the tower through the hole and boarded the airship for only half an hour before they landed once again. Now they were standing before the sea, in the distance he could see a little island. A short man descended from the airship and halted right before them.

He was rather petite with a distinguishable violet Mohawk, large clear glasses and orange colored eyes, which seemed to be slited wholly and looked like the ones of a fox. He was grinning happily at them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, congratulations on having escaped the Trick Tower. Only the Fourth Phase and the Final Phase remain." Accelerator remembered the voice; it was the same they heard through the speaker. This had to be Lippo, the examiner from the Phase before.

"Two more…" he could hear the bald ninja beside him mutter and Accelerator realized what was said. Two more phases and they would finally be Hunters. Hopefully they would not take so long like the last one, it was annoying and time-consuming. Lippo pointed his thumb coolly over his shoulder towards the island in the distance. He smirked evilly.

"The Fourth Phase will take place over there on Zevil Island. Let us proceed." He snapped his finger dramatically. Someone - tall, bald, long ears, fat lips, stupid facial expression, mud green vest and pants - shoved a hip-high metal construction with a box on top of it towards Lippo. The box was dark blue colored with yellow arrows pointing from one side to the other.

"I will need you to draw lots." Everyone was confused and they started to murmur to each other. Why not, Accelerator thought.

"Lots?" said the mouse-eared hunter, whose name he did not remember and possibly never would.

"For what?" asked the weak-looking archer. Lippo grinned happily.

"To determine who will hunt and who will be hunted." Lippo pointed at the box besides him. "In here are twenty-nine numbered cards. In other words, you ID numbers are on the cards. Now I need you each to draw a card, in the order by which you exited the tower. Right, Mister Accelerator?" They all looked at him.

"Tch. You are just far to troublesome sometimes." Accelerator said as he walked casually towards the examiner.

"And you ate most of my ultra-deluxe chips I had in storage and had my helpers bring the couch down for your accommodativeness." Lippo said with a playful scowl.

"It was a trade." Accelerator shrugged his shoulder; information for food and comfort.

"You are right, but that does not mean I have to like it." Accelerator walked over to the box and drew a card. He turned it over; it was blank. Accelerator smirked creepily just for fun and went back to Last Order. He could not wait to see what would happen in the next test.

Hisoka was next, then the living pincushion, then the bald ninja, then the mouse-eared hunter, then finally his little sister and her new friends and then other unimportant side characters.

"Ne? What do you think that meant?" Gon asked.

"Probably just playing tag, answers Misaka as Misaka thinks about it." Probably right.

"Playing tag?" Gon looked more confused than before. Everyone went to the box and drew a card.

"Everyone's taken a card?" Lippo asked rhetorically. "Then remove the seal from your card." Accelerator looked at his card again, after removing the blank sticky paper. He had the number 198. He showed it to Last Order.

"Do you know who this is?" he asked.

"Yes, number 198, Imori, light brown hair, black eyes, green white cap light blue pullover, not that tall or muscular, danger level minimal, and one of the three brothers, says Misaka as Misaka remembers clearly." Thank god for Last Order's extraordinary memory. He usually did not remember unimportant things, like the faces of losers or weaklings.

"What about you?" Accelerator asked as he looked at her card.

"Misaka has drawn number 53, Pokkle, peach-orange hair, brown eyes, magenta hat, red vest, violet undershirt, yellow bandana, weapon arrows and bow, danger level minimal, reports Misaka as Misaka looks cheerfully around for Misaka's future opponent." Accelerator also looked around, everyone was either staring seriously at their cards or removing their numbers from their vest, t-shirts, etcetera. He let his be, it did not matter who his opponent was, he would never managed to even touch his plate as long as it was with him.

"The card indicates your target." Lippo continued to say. The last few people removed their plates after finally catching on. "This box has recorder which card each of you drew. This means that you are free to dispose of the cards if you wish. The objective is to steal your target's ID tag."

"Oh, so we do not need to kill each other." said Accelerator's target.

"Naturally you are free to use any method you choose to steal the ID tags. Including killing your target and taking the tag off the corpse." Lippo answered with a creepy smile, which made his target even twitchier.

"That sounds like the fasted way." stated the other of the three brothers.

"S-so that is what this is about?" stuttered his target.

"Fool, there is nothing to be scared of." answered the biggest one while ramming his arm into the youngest chest.

"Listen carefully!" Lippo yelled while holding his hand into the air. All attention turned to him once again. "Your target's ID tag is worth three points. Your own ID is also worth three points. All other ID tags are worth one point. You need six points to advance to the Final Phase. So while on Zevil Island, you must gather enough ID tags to total six points. That is the condition for clearing the Hunter Exam's Fourth Phase." Easy to understand. Either people managed to get their target's card or three others, or if they lost their own, they were still in the game and allowed to steal form others. Interesting game. Lippo turned after his explanation around and walked onto the little board just a few meters from them. They all sat down on deck and waited until it brought them to the Island and the game would start.

"I would like to commend everyone on board for their excellent work during the Hunter Exam's Third Phase! I will serve as your guide. My name is Khara!" said the annoyingly shrill voice. Bright pink shoes, bright red skirt, yellow shirt with the symbol of the Hunter Association on it, yellow eyes, spiky reddish orange hair, the whole outfit did absolutely nothing good for her figure. "I will take two hours for the boat to reach Zevil Island. All twenty-nine applicants remaining here are automatically qualified to take the next year's exam!" she stated loudly with a smile. "So if you fail this year, do not feel bad. Please try again next year…" and finally she stopped speaking. It hurt his ears. Most applicants were sitting around in tense silence. Accelerator looked at Kurapika who sat next to Leorio on the floor.

"The battle has already begun." Kurapika stated seriously.

"Yeah, everyone has removed their ID tags and hid them…" Leorio began to say.

"Everyone?" asked Accelerator from the side.

"Not you!" Leorio yelled.

"Misaka also still has her plate on her dress, states Misaka as Misaka tries not to laugh at Suit's false statement."

"Go away girl! I was speaking about the normal people here!"

"Normal and boring. It seems you also belong with them." Accelerator said to Leorio.

"Well, you are free to do as you like for the next two hours." interrupted Khara with a strained smile. "Please enjoy the boat ride." She walked inside.

"Ne, ne?! What numbers do you have, asks Misaka as Misaka looks at them curiously."

"None of your buisne-" Leorio tried to say, before he was stopped by Accelerator's killer intent.

"Tell her or I will spend my time on Zevil Island hunting and beating the living shit out of you." Accelerator said with a death-glare.

"Y-yes, Sir!" Leorio stuttered frightened. "My number is 264, but I do not know who it is…" He looked somewhat ashamed.

"Misaka?" Accelerator just asked.

"Number 246, Ponzu, one of the last two female applicants, turquoise hair, blue eyes, balloon-like yellow hat, orange pullover, informs Misaka as Misaka enjoys the shamed look on Suit's face.

"Is that true?" Leorio asked, obviously forgetting that Last Order called him by that horrible nickname. Misaka nodded and Leorio thanked her happily.

"Of course, she knows best." Accelerator just answered. "And you?" Kurapika looked up at him from his sitting position, but after two minutes of glaring, finally said,

"Number 16, Tonpa."

"Oh, you must be happy. I would really like to kick the shit out of him." Accelerator remembered he wanted to give both him and his little sister one of these spiked drinks, when they first met. Not a really good way to start a friendship with a potential dangerous person.

"Ne, ne…" Last Order said while tucking at his coat, "Let's see what Gon and Killua have, says Misaka as Misaka starts to walk into their direction." He could not say more to Kurapika as Misaka shoved him into the direction of the other two brats. Both of them sat in silence together, probably both afraid to ask each other which cards they have.

"Hello! Would you mind telling me what cards you have, asks Misaka as Misaka looks at them once again curiously." Killua shrugged his shoulders coolly.

"Number 199, its one of those three brothers."

"Number 199, Umori, brown hair, black eyes, yellow pullover, blue white cap, the biggest of the three brothers, informs Misaka as Misaka turns towards Gon." There was silence for a while, before Gon sighed heavily and said,

"Number 44, Hisoka." The silence continued. Too bad for the boy, really too bad. Number 44 was a dangerous enemy, who had nothing against killing people, but he seemed to be a little bit obsessed with the kid, but he was not sure if he read his intention correctly. Hopefully that guy was no child molester…

"You really have bad luck…" Killua began to say.

"You think so?" Gon tried to laugh about this matter.

"Do you want to come with us for now. It would be less boring that way, interrupts Misaka as Misaka thinks things through. Big brother is also searching for one of the brothers." Last Order informed them. Killua looked thoughtful for a few seconds.

"Hmm, why not? As long as you do not stand in my way once I found my target..." The brat trailed off. They looked towards Gon, who also seemed to be deep in thought. After a while the boy began to say,

"I want to do this my way. I must concentrate on getting Hisoka's plate... Wait, what about you? Is one of us your target?" Gon asked suddenly suspiciously.

"No, big brother has one of the funny-weird-strange brothers and Misaka has the archer guy who looks like a girl, says Misaka as Misaka states the obvious."

"Oh, okay..."

"So we are searching for the same group." says Killua seriously as he pointed at himself and Accelerator.

"Yes, and it is boring enough alone like the last three days. It was barely bearable. So boring in fact, I planned to kill the other applicants a few times just to pass time… and Last Order would be busy for some time if a friend was with her before trying to annoy the hell out of me." Accelerator said with a slight sneer. He could still see the boy blushing from time to time when he thought his little sister was not looking, but could do nothing against it. Either he would go with them and Last Order would be happy or she would annoy him until he found the other brat and then be happy. Both have the same outcome.

"You are right. The Hunter Exam really is more boring that anything else. I wanted a challenge, but have not found anything like that yet." Killua agreed.

"And you really want to try to fight against Hisoka alone, asks Misaka as Misaka looks at Gon carefully."

"Yes, I will try and do my best to succeed." Gon answered animatedly. He looked exited with the fact that he had to hunt down a monster. Accelerator sat a little bit away from them and took another nap while Last Order continued to talk animatedly with the other two brats.

Two hours later they finally reached Zevil Island and Accelerator was awoken by his little sister's shaking. Accelerator yawned and went over to where the others already stood. Khara put a little wood bridge between the boat and Island for them to comfortably walk over. She turned towards them enthusiastically.

"Thanks for your patience, everyone. We have finally arrived at Zevil Island! Now please disembark in the order by which you cleared the Third Phase." She said smilingly.

"Tsk… This again…" murmured Leorio from the side.

"After each person disembarks, we will wait two minutes before the next person's turn." Khara said as she showed them her stopwatch. "You will stay on this island for exactly one week. During that time, you must amass your six points of ID tags and return here. All right then, the first person may start!" she said cheerfully.

Accelerator walked through the group, over the little wood bridge and waited a few meters away from the boat on the island for his little sister and the silver-haired brat. The other people on board looked at him with wide eyes.

"Eh… Do you not want to go inside the woods?" asked their guide cautiously, her smile strained but still in place.

"Why should I?" Accelerator asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Eh…" She obviously tried to come up with anything.

"If I wait here for my target to pass I can follow them easily. It was an advantage passing the Third Phase this early." Accelerator said. Of course that was not really true. There would be not following part. Once his target got onto land, he would be knocked unconscious and Accelerator would take his plate. Some of the other participants looked at him smugly. They probably thought he was stupid. He could have hidden himself in the forest and then followed his target, but no, he was standing there in plain sight and whoever his target was, would then know.

"Hm, I really cannot say anything against this. So please, all other applicants, be careful! You could be his target and he could attack you immediately! Two minutes have passed, the second person may start!" Tch, the woman did not know when to keep her mouth shut. A few looked now warily at him from aboard the ship. Hisoka smirked creepily like always, got onto the Island and walked into the forest with a wave of his hand, then followed by the pincushion guy, the ninja and the huntsman. A few minutes later Killua and Misaka were finally by his side, still in plain sight from the other applicants on board.

"Ano…" said their guide.

"Nobody said anything against teamwork." Accelerator stated. It was true. All those tests had huge loopholes and if prepared right, these tests were manageable.

"…" was the answer he got. Gon passed them with a wave as he ran into the forest headfirst. Kurapika just walked calmly past them, as did Leorio. Accelerator, Misaka and Killua continued to wait right before the forest. Last Order pulled at his sleeve until his attention settled on her.

"Here, big brother. Can you please watch over it for the next seven days, asks Misaka as Misaka tries to look as cute as possible." Last Order handed him both of her cards.

"No problem." Accelerator took the round plate and stuck it to his onto his white coat while he shoved the other into the pocket of his coat.

"You know, you are making a target out of yourself with this?" Killua asked incredulously. Last Order and Accelerator looked at him funnily. The only one who was able to touch him was that damned Touma and now only Misaka. It did not matter if he made a target out of himself, they all would be never able to touch him either way.

"Seriously?" he asked sarcastically, "No, not really. They must be extremely strong to be able to touch me. Let's wait for our targets." Accelerator picked up some stones from the ground and held them in his hand, really to snip anyone who would pass. Misaka searched through her backpack for some more nails and Killua just continued standing there.

Another few minutes later the number 53,walked onto the island and Misaka shoot the nails. He was able to dodge two but the other three managed to bore themselves deep into his feet.

"Damn you!" number 53 yelled angrily.

"Do not be rude, weakling. It you want to yell at somebody, yell at the Hunter Association. It ways their idea, not mine." Accelerator said from the side as Last Order searched through 53's shoulder bag only to return with the round plate happily.

They continued to wait until the biggest of the brothers, number 199, finally left the ship. Killua pounced him, knocked him unconscious with a chop to his neck and took his plate. When the next brother sat foot onto the island, Accelerator snapped a little stone towards him, hitting his head and knocking him out cold. He searched through his pockets and found the plate. He returned to both brats. Last Oder gave him hers too.

Two minutes later the last brother entered the Island cheerfully and more than relaxed, since all three of them had now their targets' plates and obviously would not need his, but Accelerator also knocked him unconscious with another stone.

"What was that for?" asked Killua curiously.

"He was my target." Accelerator answered.

"And the one before."

"That was only fun."

"Okay…" Killua trailed off. Accelerator stuck the three cards - Last Order's, number 197 and Accelerator's target's - onto his coat, now he had five decorating his coat.

"Are… are you mocking them?" inquired Killua as he looked at his plates.

"Yes, this way it is more fun."

"..." Accelerator shrugged his shoulders, turned around and began walking into the forest, looking for some place to stay for the night. They continued to walk for two hours before pausing and finding something to eat. Accelerator and Misaka were happy with just eating berries and other fruits, since he was unable to hunt anything. He did not know what to do and Last Order was unable to even get near animals because of the electric aka magnetic currents surrounding her body. Because of that, animals seemed to avoid her like a plague. Killua helped them catch some fish, which they grilled over a little fire. They were not worried for others to find or attack them; since they were all strong enough to kill them on the spot expect maybe if the magician slash clown, the pincushion guy and the bald ninja attacked. The others were just plain weak and slightly naive.

Day turned night and they were once again sitting in front of the fire, talking about whatever they could think about.

"How are your sisters?" Killua asked a while later in between bites. He looked at his little sister curiously.

"I have many older sisters, not many as in many, but many many many. They all have brown hair and brown eyes just like me, but are bigger. In fact Misaka is the youngest one of them all. I do not remember anything other family related like the faces or voices of Misaka's mother or father. Just little Misaka and her sisters. And then there is oldest one who is in love with the only person who is able to defeat my big brother and the others... well... there is one who is also in love with the same person and sometimes they are really fighting for his love and it is really funny to watch, says Misaka as Misaka tries not to remember all of Misaka older sisters' fights." She really was neither stupid nor careless. She said enough without saying too much. Nobody should know about her being a clone, not that it was important in this world.

"Big brother is not my blood brother, but he saved Misaka a few times and nearly died himself since he was also injured. That was why one day, I decided that he should be my brother and since then he was. What about your family, asks Misaka as Misaka looks at Killua equally curious." Killua paused for a moment.

"Well... my family is a little complicated and not really a standard family since all of them are assassins. But I can clearly say, I do not really like my mother, Kikyo. She is just so overbearing with everything related to me. 'Kil here and Kil there and Kil, you cannot just do that, and Kil, you will be top assassin, and Kil, you have so much potential, and, I love you so much, Kil etc.' It is just so annoying! I just do not now how to handle her! Bloody annoying woman! I had to stab her in the face to get her to back off, so that I could go out and do what I wanted and she still screamed after me that she loved me and what she all expected me to do! Even after I freaking stabbed her and she still had not backed off. When I get home next time, she will probably try to never let me leave the house again. So annoying!" ranted Killua.

"Then there is my father, Silva. Well, he is okay. I like him far more than her on any day." Killua now looked thoughtful.

"My oldest brother is named Illumi. He trained me since I was young and also monitored my missions. He always said so that nothing happened to me, but I do not really trust him. Well, if I am honest, I am a little bit afraid of him and the things he can do. I was ecstatic when I heard that he was on a mission, so that I could escape my prison. If he had been there, he would have surely stopped me. He is still far stronger than me.

Then there is Milluki. I often call him piggy, since he is really fat, but still somewhat strong… I think. The last time he left the house was when he was ten or something like that. He likes snacks, computers and his figurines of busty woman. I stabbed him in the stomach when he decided to suck up to my mother and help her bring me inside again, but well… I am far stronger than him after all.

Alluka is younger than me and even more special, but my family sees this as a nuisance and decides to lock her up in a room in the basement. She has a special ability, which is rather dangerous to most people except me. It is called Wish Granting, and can fulfill whatever wish you have but for a prize. It is horrifying and freaking my family out.

And my last younger sibling is Kalluto. He is always hanging around my mother, which pisses me off, so I do not get to talk to him much since I always try to avoid mother.

And then there is Grandpa Zeno who is like my father, so okay." Killua looked at him interested. "Do you really not remember your parents?" He asked. Accelerator looked at him surprised shortly. He had not expected the brat to remember what he told them on board the zeppelin.

"Not really." He answered after a while. "My power manifested itself really early and they seemed to avoid me to the best of their abilities and I was an only child. Even the children in school and in the end everyone avoided me. And then one-time things went from bad to shitty as hell. I injured a child unintentionally, the teachers tried to do something and also failed and ended up injured, then the military appeared and it all ended with about hundred dead people and five hundred injured. They send me to special classes, which helped me increase my control over my power and well… I never saw them again and with time forget them pretty much. I also never had friends, until a year ago and then this brat appeared and started living with me and calling me brother." Accelerator finished explaining. They finished eating and Accelerator and Last Order leaned against a tree and tried to fall asleep.

* * *

_**AN: Finally managed to write this chapter. It was hard, halfway through my vacation, I lost my motivation in writing anything HxH related and now it is back… a little bit. Next chapter will be part 2 and they probably get to meet Hanzo and Hisoka… maybe even someone else. Any ideas or requests, whom they should met in those seven days?**_


	10. Chapter 09 Phase IV (Part 2)

**Chapter 09: Phase IV (Part 2)**

Accelerator, Misaka and Killua continued to walk around the island in utter boredom. They slept, they walked for a bit through the forest, they sat down to rest or whatever, they searched for food and ate, they continued to walk some more and for Accelerator, who had thought the third test was boring, it was hell.

This was much worse than sitting around in the Trick Tower for those three long, boring days. He should not have completed the phase this fast. He should have taken the long way through the tower, where he would have been able to kill some more of those prisoners and continue to walk around until he managed to reach the basement, but did he do it like that? No, of course not. He had to go, be as great as he usually was, jump from the tower, land on the ground easily, make a huge hole into the tower and so he had already reached his destination.

At least he had some fun torturing those three idiots, but even they were quickly dead. He should have controlled his temper better, but they were just so annoying, seriously asking him to play twister with them! The audacity of even asking this warranted the death penalty, which he swiftly carried out. The little bit of torture was not even worth mentioning. He should have left them alive longer, far far longer.

And then the waiting began and there was nothing to sit on only the cold, hard floor. So he made a deal with the prison warden, information for a couch and something good to eat. That was all easy accomplished and he continued to wait on the couch for other participants to arrive. Those examiners sure were stingy and cheap; they should have at least installed a television in this room. It was just too boring, sitting there all alone with only one's thoughts as company.

At least Misaka and her new friends managed to get there pretty fast. Now at any rate he had her and the others to watch, it was a poor substitute for a television, but somehow he had managed to survive those three days. And now exactly the same was happening again!

Here he was walking around this forest utterly bored. He had, because he liked to do things quickly and efficiently, gotten his target's badge swiftly and now had nothing further to do for the seven days they got for this test. He could have passed the exam then and there, even through not all participants were on the island, but who cared? They apparently and did not let him pass immediately. He had to continue to remain here like the rest of the participants, because the others could manage to get their badges back or they could lose theirs. Not that either of them was happening to him.

He had to sleep on the hard forest floor - if he was lucky he would find some moos to lie down, this was a bit better - and got a slight backache because of it. How Misaka and the other brat managed to remain in top condition out here, he did not understand. He stopped Last Order mid-sentence with a death glare when she tried to imply that he was either an old man or turning into one - hence the white hair - or just too spoilt. The other brat even dared to snigger at that.

As for food, they were also always eating the same. Fish, berries, nuts and maybe a bit seasoned with a few different herbs they found. Nothing else. He would have killed one of those fluffy, rabbit-like creatures, but after the first two sound attacks at his ear from a miserable Misaka, who did not want him to kill those adorable creatures apparently, he decided not to. Even though she could not touch them because of the electromagnetic fields around her body, she loved those furry things and would not let him harm even one of them. Killua would also have no problems with killing those little creatures, but did not because the brat did not want to upset Last Order. So fish was the only meat-like thing they were allowed to eat.

Honestly, he missed the chips and the couch.

Leastwise he had some entertainment watching those brats running around. They had already found a way to lessen their boredom. They were a bit busy studying the different plants and trying to find out if they were edible and thank god, they all were or Misaka would be already sick. Killua was immune to whatever poison there was, but could detect them instantly nonetheless. Family tradition, he called it. Accelerator knew it must have been part of the training his family put him through for becoming an assassin. The brat had to be able to life through torture and poisons and not talk about his secrets, if some lucky sod managed to capture him.

He thought the whole thing was supposed to be the most difficult exams in the world. Here they would decide if one was fit to be called the elite of this world, the best of the best. This was the feared Hunter Exam, in which thousands died and most likely would die in the future, but right now it felt more like going camping into the woods while having forgotten to take the right camping equipment with them. And just as boring. He could not really understand people who did this willingly in their free time.

There were trees – sarcastically seen as interesting, but to him tree was tree, if one was different from the other, he just did not care, even if Misaka tried constantly to tell him the difference - and there were flowers - with lots of different names he did not care to remember, but they were blue, white, red, violet and yellow, nothing more - and at last they were the animals running around - annoying little creatures he was not allowed to eat.

Before this trip he was not that annoyed by the brat's ability to catalog these kind of information into her brain after having it read only once, but now he cursed himself having her let read lexicons when they first went to the library in Zaban City. She knew about most animals running around here, the whole names of the flowers and trees, and it was both interesting to hear even though he did not care for the information and irritating since she just did not stop talking.

Brat number two seemed to be excited to hear about these things and listened to her attentively, while Accelerator thought about better times. Times were he could just watch TV to lessen his boredom and listen to new music, those he had on his iPod like music device was great, but after repeatedly hearing it for the three days in the Trick Tower and another two days on this island, it was getting boring. He thought about finding one of the candidates running around and torturing him for the next three days, but for that to happen he had to find one first. They had not met or seen anyone here, even though the island was not that big. They should have at least met one person here, but no, nobody.

Where they already dead? He had thought about this possibility. There were a few stronger 'hunters' in the exam like the weird magician and the pincushion guy, the rest was better than the ones already out of the exam, but in the end of the day they were just easy prey. But he did not think that they would have been taken all out, he did not know why but it was just a feeling. Today he was feeling extremely benevolent, maybe if he found one he would just hurt them a bit but let them live. Yes, today he would be nice.

His watchers would probably be happy too if he did not torture the other participants. Instant death and torture until they died were two different things. Accelerator was aware of them for some time now, but ignored them mostly since they were just following them around the forest. He did not particularly like such people and felt a little bit paranoid, but still had fun with them.

They were good at their job, hiding and stalking them, but not that well. Black suits tend to stick out in the greenish foliage of the forest if one was not careful enough. Killua knew that they were following them since the beginning, but did not say anything as well, since they did nothing else but watch them and Misaka was not aware of them when he asked. From time to time just for a bit entertainment Accelerator would take some stones, snip them with accelerated speed into their direction and let them squeak and try to dodge them. At least he could laugh a bit at their misfortune on this boring day.

If he was honest with himself, it took some time until he noticed someone else following their little group.

"Oye, are you aware that we are being followed?" Accelerator asked the brats who were running slalom through the trees. Killua perked up and stopped.

"If you mean that our stalkers have multiplied, you are absolutely right." Killua answered calmly. He was far better then him at sensing the presence of other people.

"Should we do something against them?" asked Accelerator. A little fight would be good right now. It would certainly lighten his mood and he would even be nice. He was feeling well today.

"Misaka is already bored with running slalom around the trees and wants to do something else. Shall Misaka beat them up, asks Misaka as Misaka tries not to look suspiciously around and warn Misaka's stalkers." She said while hoping from one foot to the other excitedly.

"Well then, let us visit the rats that dared to follow the cats." Accelerator said as he turned around and walked towards the badly hidden people on the ground. "Misaka, Killua." Both perked up when they heard their name. "Let's make this a contest. The one who manages to beat most is the winner."

"Will there be a price for the winner?" Killua asked. Bratty child.

Accelerator send a mock-death glare at the second brat, "Do I honestly look like someone who would how some price hidden away on my person?"

"Be nice, big brother, and do not worry Killua. He meant this as just a friendly contest. No price, just showing off, says Misaka as Misaka tries to defuse the tension."

"No price?" Killua asked again.

"No, nothing. Just go, brat." Accelerator said while nodding his head into the direction of the rats. Both of them stood besides each other waiting for a signal. Accelerator rolled his eyes.

"Ready, steady, go!" he screamed the last part and the brats took off towards the badly hidden people. Immediately they were gone from his sight and Accelerator let out a tired sigh. Sometimes being an older brother not to one, but now two, little brats who were constantly on a sugar high and had the energy of a nuclear bomb was exhausting and troublesome.

"Finished!" he could hear both brats scream at the same time from the tree line a few meters away from him. He sighed again and walked over to where Misaka was dancing around happily waving her hands at him. Accelerator looked at the three figures lying beneath their feet – they were currently standing on top of those stalkers, Misaka digging her heels into their backs while Killua kicked them a bit for good measure – and recognized their faces immediately. Those were the three brothers – what were their names? Imori, Umori and Amori? – from which they had taken the badges and then left lying near the boat. So they had gotten up again and followed them around to get their badges back. Well, too bad.

"And who won?" Accelerator asked as he looked up from the three brothers to the brats.

"It was a draw." Killua said unhappily. "We each knocked out one and the last one together." He finished with a pout.

"Well," Accelerator sighed, "This whole thing is getting annoying again. Did they have any badges on themselves? Or other useful things? You are allowed to search through their clothes, they are not going to say no."

"They are unconscious." Killua commentated.

"Not going to, not able to, it is the same thing in my book." Accelerator shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay, let's look, states Misaka as Misaka begins to search through their stuff." They found out a few interesting things, Killua was supposed to be the target of the youngest, weakest looking of the bunch, while the other two already had the cards of their targets, apparently some other weak-ass participants. He stopped Misaka before she could tell him how they all looked like and who they were, but he did not care.

They lost against pathetic opponents; which meant that their targets were even weaker than those he already considered weak and Accelerator was in no way interested enough to remember their faces or names. He hefted the other two badges onto his cloak – he was beginning to look like an idiot with all those badges – but maybe it would bring them more attention and a few interesting fights. One could still hope, but first they had to get rid of the brothers for at least the time they would spent on this island, another three days. He did not want to deal with them again. They already got two chances. One when they got onto the island and another one right now; two chances were just enough and he was still feeling generous today. Nothing bad would happen to them, well, at least not that bad.

Accelerator walked over to the biggest one and laid his hand onto his thigh. One second later they all heard a loud crack, which was followed by an even louder scream from the eldest.

"Ah! You bastard!" he screamed, "What the hell have you done?" Ah, he was awake again.

"Broke your bone. It was the easiest way to stop you from following us. I was lenient the first time, so the second time screamed for some worse punishment, do not you think?" Accelerator explained smiling creepily down at him.

"You bastard!" the oldest continued to scream, but Accelerator ignored him. The man should be thankful that he did not torture them to insanity because of his boredom and should just shut up. He stood up and walked to the middle brother, who was still lying unconscious on the forest floor.

"W-what are you doing? Go away from him!" screamed the eldest in fear and started to crawl towards his brothers.

"Also breaking the bone. After all, all three of you followed us."

"Y-you monster!" Another two loud snaps and horrifying screams later, Accelerator and the brats were on their way again, leaving the now-injured brothers lying in the forest.

They found another river again, fished for food, ate it, continued to walk, took another nap and walked some more. Midday turned to afternoon, which turned to night and they once again sat in front of a small fire, roasting their fish. They did not talk much, if then only about how the Hunter Exam sucked and was just too easy and far too boring, when they were interrupted.

Accelerator did not feel anyone near them, but Killua had far better senses in that department and stilled mid-conversation. The hairs on his neck stood up a bit and he started to look around suspiciously. Three metal stars came flying from one of the trees to their right. He pushed Misaka out of the way while Killua jumped to his feet and also dodged the metal projectile. Another three were fired at them. Accelerator stood before Misaka able to redirect them slightly so that they would not hit them. He could have reflected them back or slowed their speed until they dropped before his feet, but he did not want to show off that much. It would be good if nobody knew his full powers. It would be funny to see their faces, once they realize that he could do so much more.

Killua of course jumped into the direction the metal stars came from and started to fight the person. Accelerator saw a flash of red and knew whom they were up against.

"It must be the bald ninja, states Misaka as Misaka looks closer at the metal stars. Misaka watched the TV show called 'Naruto' back home and there were also ninja throwing around those metal stars, explains Misaka as Misaka tries to make out the figure hiding in the forest."

"The bastard is fast, I must admit." Killua said as he jumped down from a nearby tree and walked over to them.

"He is gone?" Accelerator asked him.

"I think so, if not, then he is pretty good at hiding." Killua answered.

"That exactly is the ninja's way. They must hide in the shadows, ready to assassinate their targets in the night with wire and those metal stars or some of these awesome jutsu, and if this is a strong target the must battle them in an ultimate battle of good and evil! Long live Naruto, screams Misaka animatedly." She started to dance around wildly.

"I never ever let you watch this much TV." Accelerator stated as he looked at her incredulously.

"Well, he seems to be an assassin like me. I used to do this kind of thing too." Killua said with a shrug.

"He attacked all of us even through only I had all the badges, maybe to get you away from me. He obviously wants one of the badges on my cloak, I wonder which."

"Who knows? If he really needs it, we will see him again." Killua stated. Accelerator looked at them for a few moments, before turning around and raising his voice.

"Oye, bald ninja. I do not like being attacked and I also would not like it if you take my little sister hostage as bargain chip. So let's make a few things clear. It does not matter to me that much if I pass the Hunter Exam and if you once again try to attack my little sister, I will kill you. I will break every damn bone in your body and then as finishing touch reverse your blood flow. Even if it is between the Phases and I would be disqualified. I do not care. Understood? So if you want something from me, then it would be best to come and talk to me face to face, not attack like some coward and creep from the shadows. And bring something good to eat, if you want to negotiate with us." Accelerator turned towards them again and sat down by the fire and continued eating. Both looked at him stunned, but also sat down and finished their food.

"Do you think he will attack again?" Killua asked.

"If he is intelligent enough, then no, he would not. He is only one person, while Killua is a trained assassin, Misaka can control lightning to a certain degree and I have a power he is not be able to understand for now. I am a complete unknown, while he only knows bits and pieces about you two. That one attack was a test to see how we would react and as you can see, we are all uninjured and you immediately ran into the directing the attack came from. We are good and he knows it, so if he has some brain, he will come to us and talk." They continued to eat in silence and laid down to rest.

The next day started bright and early, there was no way to escape from the annoying rays of the sun that woke them all up. Well, he could stop them, but then he would have to let the brat do around unsupervised and he would not do that. They went towards the river to freshen up, before they saw movement from the corner of the eyes. The bald ninja with the red cape and weird eyebrows stood before them holding something grilled and good smelling in his hands.

"Apologies for my attack last night, I just wanted to see if it would be possible for me to steal the plate. Here I offer you this good and self-made food as apology." He handed some of the food over to Accelerator without any threatening gesture.

"Is it poisoned?" Accelerator asked.

"No, it is not. I know you have no reason to trust me, but even though I am a ninja, I still have honor."

"Okay, Killua will be our taster."

"Poisons do not really do anything to me anymore, but I still know if there is something in it or not, exactly like I knew that number 16 had put laxatives into the soda cans." The ninja looked surprised, but nodded and gave them the rest of the food. They all sat down, Killua tasted everything and gave them the okay to eat. The food was good, thank god not again fish, and once they had finished the started to negotiate.

"Which one do you need?" Accelerator asked at last.

"Number 198." the ninja answered.

"Your target?"

"Yes."

"Okay." Accelerator said neutrally.

"Okay?" the ninja looked surprised.

"Why not? Do you want to fight me?" Accelerator asked.

"No, no, it is okay. I just did not think it would be so easy."

"You do not have any of us as a target and it was not ours, so why not? It is not like we need this one."

"Thanks." And with that the ninja vanished into the forest again.

And life in the forest took its normal route. They continued to go through the forest, even met the bound forms of former number 16 and the ape man, who were curiously surrounded by little squirrel-like creatures, which seemed to have quite fun annoying those two. One look at them, they screamed at them to unbind them, Accelerator chuckled before turning around with the brats and continuing going on their merry way.

Finally the seventh day arrived and they walked towards the place, where they first entered the island. Accelerator could not wait to sleep in a normal bed again and eat normal food, but somehow he had managed to survive. He would be happy to be away from forests generally for at least another year. He also did not want to hear anything about camping or fishing for the next year. Those were taboo words now.

They continued to sit on the shore gazing towards the ship in the distance. Some minutes from now they would finally get off of this boring island and hopefully towards civilization. Last Order looked up when she noticed he ship neared the coastline again.

"I think it is time." Killua said from the side.

"Finally." Accelerator grunted as he got up from the ground. He could not wait to get off this and sleep in a normal, comfortable bed and eat normal, not self-made food.

"The Fourth Phase of the exam has just ended." They could hear Khara's voice loud and clear all over the place, probably because of hidden speakers. Let's see what she wanted with them. "Will all the applicants please return to the starting point at once? You will be given one hour of extra time. If you do not return during this time, you will fail the exam. Furthermore, you are not allowed to exchange tags after reaching the starting point. Anyone caught swapping tags will be disqualified." She said in a happy tone. Accelerator looked around. Some of them were already here like he himself, Last Order, Killua and Hisoka. They waited for some time before others arrived. The pincushion guy, the bald ninja, the old kung-fu master arrived in the next half hour and continued to wait silently with them.

The little wooden bridge was laid out again to get from the coast onto the boat. Khara walked with a notebook and a pen over onto the island, before looking curiously at the people standing there.

"Then we will now check the tags of everyone here!" She stated cheerfully.

"Number 407, Accelerator-san." She could see the cards onto his cloak. Together he had eight points, more than enough. Number 407, 198, 89 and 362.

"Number 406, Last Order-san." She showed Khara her badges, number 406 and 53.

"Number 99, Killua-san." The brat coolly showed her his cards, number 99 and 199.

"Number 44, Hisoka-san." The cards revealed number 384, 80, 281 and 118. Oh, he did not have his original with him. Someone else had to have it, possibly Gon? But he was not really sure. He had no idea how such a naïve, little brat could have won against the magician; it should have been impossible.

"Number 301, Gittarackur-san." Number 301 and 371.

"Number 191, Bodoro-san." Number 191 and 34.

"Number 294, Hanzo-san." Number 294 and 197.

"So seven applicants have passed?" She asked. On cue they heard a rustling behind them.

"Oh?" She exclaimed surprised. They all turned around to look at the tree line. Gon, Kurapika and Leorio appear.

"Gon." Killua said excitedly from beside Accelerator.

"Ah, three more arrive at the last second." Killua gave Gon a thumb up which was returned by Gon with the same, before Gon looked seriously at the magician. Hisoka smirked darkly. Accelerator was not sure if he really wanted to know what happened to those two.

"And now for the last few members…" She stated.

"Number 404, Kurapika-san." Number 404 and 16.

"Number 403, Leorio-san." Number 403 and 246. It was incredible that he managed to get this far in the first place.

"And Number 405, Gon-san." He showed the numbers 405 and 44. Oh, so h had managed to defeat the magician? Or was he so benevolent that he gave the little brat his badge, since he could get the others fairly easy? Who knew?

"These ten applicants have passed the Fourth Phase of the exam!" she said with a dramatic flair as she pointed her hand at the zeppelin above them. Finally away from the forest!

They got onto the airship and waited by the windows. Gon, Killua, Kurapika, Leorio, Accelerator and Last Order stayed together for now. It would be interesting to hear, what had happened to the others in this week.

"Pathetic…" Everyone turned towards Leorio, "I needed the two of you to do everything for me in the Fourth Phase. I promise I will return the favor. So… thanks." Leorio said blushing slightly as he tried to not look into the direction of Gon and Kurapika. Well, now that was not really surprising at all.

"I have an announcement for all applicants. The chairman wishes to interview the remaining candidates." Beans stated through the speakers.

"Interview?" Leorio asked.

"When your number is called, please come to the first reception room, on the second floor. We will start with number 407, Accelerator-sama." Accelerator shrugged his shoulders and walked over to their destination, Last Order following behind him.

It only took a few minutes to arrive at the mentioned room. Accelerator knocked, opened the door when he heard a 'enter' from the other side and looked curiously into the room. It was in an old Japanese style.

"Well, have a seat." Isaac Netero said while comfortably sitting on the other side of the table.

"Is this the exam's Final Phase?" Accelerator asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, it is not. It may be related, but in the end I will just be asking a few questions to satisfy my curiosity." Netero took out a notebook and a pencil. Accelerator sat down at the dark blue cushion on the floor and waited.

"First why do you want to become a Hunter?" The chairman asked.

"Mainly because of the Hunter License. Through it there are just so many things possible, travelling around the world and killing other people without getting into too much trouble." Accelerator replied neutrally.

"I see then I will move on to the next question. Which of the other nine applicants are you keeping an eye on?" Netero asked while taking down notes.

"That pin cushion guy, I think he is number 301, and the magician Hisoka, number 44." The others were not really that noteworthy, well, "And maybe a bit the brat, Killua, number 99." He was not that bad either. The chairman nodded happily.

"One last question, which of the other nine applicants would you least want to fight with?"

"Number 406, Last Order. She is my little sister, I would not want to fight her."

"Ah, I understand."

* * *

_**AN: Finally. It took me some time. My motivation for everything Hunter X Hunter related was zero for a while now and I just could not finish this chapter, but now at least after so much time, it is done. Hurray! Now we will be at the Final Phase. Who would you want to battle and who not?**_


End file.
